6 Feb 2017

Call to move Vanuatu airstrip because of crowding

12:53 pm on 6 February 2017

Chiefs on the island of Aneityum in Vanuatu have called on the government to move the airstrip away from nearby Mystery island.

Aneityum island off Vanuatu.

Aneityum island off Vanuatu. Photo: Google maps

The call follows a visit of the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship whose 5000 passengers visited Mystery Island.

The chiefs said their tiny island, which is less than 1000 metres long and less than 3,00 metres wide, is becoming too crowded, with the market now being too close to the airstrip.

They said they had identified a new site for an airstrip on Aneityum, and the deputy prime minister Joe Natuman has agreed a government team will inspect the site.