Solomon Airlines objects Qantas application to increase Brisbane-Honiara services

Solomon Airlines has objected to Qantas’ application to increase flights between Brisbane and Honiara from four to five services per week.

This comes after Qantas applied to the International Air Services Commission (IASC) for approval to begin the additional service from March 29 this year.

Solomon Airlines Chief Executive Officer, Paul Abbot said the request should be rejected in the national interest, warning that income from international routes subsidises domestic flights to 23 ports across the country.

“Solomon Airlines has respectfully requested that the application for increased services by Qantas on the Brisbane to Honiara route be rejected based on national interest for the people of the Solomon Islands and the future of domestic Solomon Island operations.

“Income from our international operations subsidises the operation of domestic flights within the Solomon  Islands currently to 23 ports around the country. 

“Without that income, these vital flights are not financially viable, yet for some three years now we have endured extreme foreign competition undermining our international airline income and therefore threatening our domestic airline viability and we cannot allow this situation to continue and worsen,” he said.

He said the Brisbane-Honiara route remains small and declining, with fewer than 40,000 passengers recorded in 2025, well below pre-pandemic levels.

Only 39,722 passengers travelled between Brisbane and Honiara in 2025, according to figures from Solomon Airlines, well down from 52,071 in 2019, with 2023–24 also showing a progressive drop in traffic. 

Australian travellers alone dropped by 7.9 per cent from 2023 to 2024.

“The market has not grown and in fact is in decline, and there is little likelihood that this situation will change, so there is no justification for yet another Qantas flight. 

“Especially considering that the Solomon Islands tourism product offering is as yet underdeveloped and is not yet capable to support and increase the number of visitors we are attracting to Solomon Islands.  There is also no commercial activity of note which would suddenly drive increased travel,” he said.

“It also cannot be justified by an argument saying this will increase schedule choice for travellers as both airlines operate on the same days and in general at the same timings,” Abbot said.

Mr Abbot argued that adding another Qantas service would not grow the market but instead undermine Solomon Airlines’ viability, with serious implications for domestic connectivity.

“Qantas may suggest the addition of the fifth service would offer this choice, but given both carriers are operating in a stagnant and declining market, the additional service will not grow the market but will simply cannibalise existing services.

“Due to the power of the Qantas Frequent Flyer programme and the airline’s access to Australian based corporate and government contracts, Qantas already takes a disproportionate percentage of the higher yielding market segments, which has eroded the viability of the route from a Solomon Airlines point of view, ” he said.

He has urged the Commission to consider what is fair and necessary for Solomon Islands’ economy and the future of its national airline.

“Solomon Airlines respectfully requests that the IASC considers this application from the perspective of what is fair, necessary and in the interests of Solomon Islands people, economy and economic development. The future operations of our national airline depends upon it,” he said.

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Solomon Airlines