The manager of the Vanuatu International Airport say it was nothing short of a miracle that the airport is up and running so soon after cyclone Pam.
The manager of the Vanuatu International Airport say it was nothing short of a miracle that the airport is up and running so soon after cyclone Pam.
Airports Vanuatu's Acting Chief Executive, Rowland Kalsong told RNZI on Monday he was so overwhelmed by the devastation, he predicted it would take at least two days to be operable.
"There was a lot of debris on the runway we had bits of timber and iron roofing blown onto the runway. We had that cleared off as of yesterday morning and then from then on we had to work on the other systems like the runway lightings and the terminal systems. And so yesterday we had a few of those systems fixed and so that is why this morning we had the terminal cleaned up for commercial flights."
Mr Kalsong says with communications down to other islands, he doesn't know what state the provincial runways are in.
New Zealanders on an Air Force plane returning from Vanuatu. Photo: NZ DEFENCE FORCE
