Air Vanuatu now flies with a single Boeing 737. Its baggage allowance reflects that. Domestic economy gets a 5kg cabin bag and a 10kg checked piece.
Those are the only figures the carrier publishes right now. The Air Vanuatu baggage allowance is thin compared to most airlines.
The airline went into liquidation in May 2024. A maintenance dispute grounded its only widebody. Passengers were stranded across the Pacific for weeks.
Air Vanuatu has since resumed flying under the same name and the same site, airvanuatu.com. The fleet is smaller now. Domestic routes within Vanuatu are running again, and international schedules are being rebuilt one step at a time.
What Air Vanuatu actually publishes
The airline’s own baggage page lists a 5kg cabin bag limit for domestic economy. Checked baggage is capped at 10kg per piece for adults and children. No cabin or checked bag dimensions are listed in inches or centimeters, and no separate international allowance appears on the page.
The site notes that stowage and weight limits can vary by service. Excess baggage may be carried at a fixed rate per piece, rather than a published fee table. Pack light and confirm your specific flight’s limits before you travel.
Why the Air Vanuatu baggage allowance is so sparse
A one aircraft airline rebuilding its network will not maintain the detailed fare tier tables a major carrier keeps. The Air Vanuatu baggage allowance appears on a single page, not a tiered fare chart. Air Vanuatu’s baggage information page reads like an operational notice, not a full policy.
Do not carry forward numbers from before the 2024 shutdown. The airline flying today is a smaller operation. Its current published limits are the only ones that count.
If you are connecting through a US gateway
Air Vanuatu does not serve the United States directly. Most American travelers reach Vanuatu on a through ticket with a partner carrier for the long haul leg. Each operating carrier generally sets the carry on rules for its own segment.
The most restrictive checked allowance among your segments usually applies for planning purposes. Airlines like Fiji Airways or Air New Zealand often carry the international leg into the region. Their allowance will likely beat the domestic Air Vanuatu figures above.
Check your ticket’s baggage summary before you fly. Do not assume the Air Vanuatu domestic limits cover your whole itinerary if a partner airline sold the ticket.
What the local community actually reports
Travelers on travel forums describe Air Vanuatu’s domestic flights as strict on weight, not on bag count or size. Several posts compare the airline unfavorably to Air New Zealand on shared routes. The domestic 10kg checked limit sits well below a typical international carrier’s allowance.
The recurring theme: gate staff on small domestic aircraft weigh bags closely. Payload on a single aircraft fleet is tighter than on a larger carrier’s network. Travelers packing for interisland hops should expect a scale at check in, not a size gauge.
Packing around a thin allowance
With a 5kg cabin bag and a 10kg checked piece on domestic flights, this is not an airline to test with a heavy carry on. Use a size checker to confirm your bag’s dimensions, even though Air Vanuatu has not published its own cabin size.
Weigh your bag at home rather than guessing. A longer international segment on a partner airline will likely allow more checked baggage weight, so plan to redistribute items before your Air Vanuatu domestic leg.
The bottom line
Air Vanuatu is flying again, but its published baggage allowance stays limited. A 5kg domestic cabin bag and a 10kg checked piece are the only confirmed figures, with no dimensions and no international numbers on its own site.
Anyone connecting through Vanuatu should lean on the partner carrier’s baggage fees and allowance for the international leg. The Air Vanuatu baggage allowance covers only the domestic hop.
Treat the Air Vanuatu domestic limits as the tightest link in the chain. Check the airline’s own page before you travel, since a recovering single aircraft carrier can change its schedule and its policies without much notice.
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