A group of student volunteers from Australia found themselves stranded in Vanuatu when the airline responsible for their trip home suddenly dissolved. Unexpected help came from P&O Cruises Australia, which offered them a ride home via a cruise ship scheduled to call on the island.
Sixteen Australian students and their chaperones arrived in Tanna, Vanuatu, a remote island on the southwest Pacific Ocean, on May 5. Most of the youth volunteers from Albury in New South Wales were sent by the Hive Rotary Club Australia to conduct community outreach activities.
They were supposed to catch an Air Vanuatu plane from Tanna to Port Vila on May 18, where they would board a connecting flight going home.
Two days after arriving, however, Air Vanuatu declared bankruptcy after amassing debts worth $110 million. All of its flights were canceled, and airline personnel could not make alternative arrangements for the delegation.
| Their remaining options were few and impractical. Hive Rotary Club President Kellie Kadoui described their predicament to 9 News Australia, “The only way off Tanna Island is via a plane or a ferry once a week. So, it was very stressful for a lot of days, working out how we were going to get home. A chartered flight was an option but it was $7,000 to get us all 20 off the island.” |
Aside from paying for the return trip, the group had to deal with unforeseen expenses due to their extended stay and the costs of internet and phone calls as they sought ways to return home.
Since travel insurance doesn’t cover the dissolution of travel companies, the group’s out-of-pocket expenses reached $10,000.
P&O’s Offers a Ride Home and a Free Cruise
They asked for help from Australian media and online social networks. P&O Australia quickly responded.
“Within probably 10 hours, they had contacted us and said, ‘Can we get you home?’ And delivered the team. We can’t thank you enough because it would have been a very costly trip out,” said Kadoui.
Vanuatu Travel helped them secure a flight to Port Vila on May 17, where they boarded Pacific Adventure.
The cruise line’s senior vice president, Peter Little, remarked, “P&O Cruises Australia is delighted to help this inspiring group of students get home. We are proud of our Australian heritage that extends back more than 90 years, and answering a call to help young Australians stranded a long way from home, is the right thing to do.”
Vanuatu Travel, P&O Australia, and their local Rotary district assisted them with travel arrangements and expenses.
They joined the cruise for free, visited Mystery Island on the ship’s itinerary, and will finally return home on May 23.
P&O Australia is one of Carnival Corporation’s (CCL) nine cruise brands.
