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New Zealand air force aborts relief flights to Vanuatu

Xinhua, March 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

The New Zealand air force on Tuesday abandoned two relief flights to cyclone-stricken Vanuatu, saying technical problems had forced the aircraft to return.

The C-130 Hercules and the Boeing 757 were both enroute for the Pacific island nation to deliver relief supplies and evacuate New Zealanders, when they were struck by unrelated instrumentation problems, Air Commodore Kevin McEvoy said.

"Naturally we're very disappointed that we can't continue rendering assistance today," McEvoy said in a statement.

"However, the aid on board will be delivered as soon as possible."

Operations at Port Vila airport were currently limited to daytime only, so it would not be possible to repair either aircraft to set out again Tuesday, but the air force was working towards rescheduling the flights.

Since Tropical Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu at the weekend, the New Zealand air force had made three successful return flights, delivering almost 32 tons of relief supplies and 42 specialist personnel from government agencies, the Red Cross and other non- government organizations.

On Monday, two Hercules aircraft returned from Vanuatu carrying 89 New Zealanders.

The repatriations were being carried out at the request of New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to reduce any backlog for commercial carriers when flights resumed. Endi