Air Vanuatu has cancelled a week's worth of flights, leaving passengers stranded as the school holidays kick off.
The airline's Boeing 737 has been left out of action for the second time this year thanks to engineering troubles.
In a statement, the airline said necessary work on the aircraft had “encountered unexpected delays”.
“Making it impossible for us to provide an exact timeframe for resuming our regular schedules.
“At this stage, we anticipate the possible resumption of international flights by the end of this week.”
The airline asked passengers with flights booked to “not present themselves at the airport or check-in”.
The plane is the airline's only 737 and connects Vanuatu with New Zealand and Australia. In March, the plane broke down in Brisbane, spending weeks out of action.
Air Vanuatu has called in support from Nauru Airlines, who will fly a number of “limited services” between Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland and Nadi to and from Port Vila.
“Our teams have been working on re-routing guests via Nadi, Honiara and Brisbane.”
Speaking to Stuff, one Australian passenger said they were stranded in Vanuatu and hadn’t been notified about a replacement.
'We've had no news. We were told not to go to the airport. Not to try to get ... another flight," she said.
"There's a flight to Auckland tomorrow, and then we have to get another ticket back from Auckland to Sydney. Separately."
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