It is Vanuatu's national flag carrier, formerly operating to Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and points in the South Pacific.

[2] The first Air Vanuatu flight, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 owned and operated by Ansett, departed Sydney for Port Vila on 5 September 1981.

[5] The following year an Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante was also leased from Australian, entering service that April to operate flights between Port Vila and Nouméa.

[17] In July 2020, Air Vanuatu announced a major set of changes for the airline due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This included delaying the delivery of the four Airbus A220 aircraft it had on order, and a strategic review of its network.

[19][20] Due to the collapse of Air Vanuatu, 1,458 Vanuatuan seasonal workers were left stranded in New Zealand.

"[24] On 22 May 2024, Solomon Airlines began weekly direct flights between Auckland and Port Vila to fill the gap left by Air Vanuatu.

[25] In August 2024, limited domestic services resumed after an injection of funds by the Government of Vanuatu.