Air Vanuatu (NF, Port Vila) has announced it will resume services to Longana airport, in the north-western part of the Pacific archipelago, despite the continuing presence of volcanic ash in the atmosphere. It will, however, suspend the use of DHC-6-300 turboprop aircraft on flights to the island from Espiritu Santo.

"The airline’s non-turboprop aircraft, the BN-2, has been deemed safe to fly to Longana by our flight operations, engineering and safety systems departments subject to daily ash reports from the island," CEO Joseph Laloyer said in a statement.

Air Vanuatu will base the Islander out of Espiritu Santo where passengers will be able to connect to ATR72-operated services to Vanuatu's main gateway at Port Vila.

The carrier added that all services to Longana are subject to continuous safety evaluation and passengers need to be prepared for ad-hoc cancellations.

The Manaro Voui volcano, of which the Ambae island is the emergent portion, has been erupting intermittently since March 2018, emitting large amounts of volcanic ash and sulphur dioxide into the air. The eruption has caused a large-scale evacuation of citizens from the island and happened just half a year after the previous massive explosion.