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Flight Review: Solomon Airlines – Brisbane to Honiara

October 23, 2018 By James Clark

Flight Review: Solomon Airlines - Brisbane to Honiara

Flight: Solomon Airlines IE 701
From: Brisbane (BNE) To: Honiara (HIR)

I flew with Solomon Airlines from Brisbane to Honiara. I flew as a guest of the airline and Tourism Solomons, where I was visiting with a media group from Australia.

Solomon Airlines operates a 5-times a week service to Brisbane, which is the sole Australian flight in the network. This flight departs at 10.00 and arrives at 14.15 for a scheduled flying time of 3H, 15M. Honiara is one hour ahead of Brisbane, so it’s an easy travel day in terms of flight times.

There is no online check-in, so I was at the airport early to get it out of the way.

Check-in

Solomon Airlines aren’t in any airline alliance, but they codeshare the Brisbane flight with Qantas. From Brisbane you can connect to any major city in Australia.
.
Gate 73B

I was allocated one of the “Belama Club” seats, which is like premium economy. These seats are the row behind business, same 3-3 seat configuration as economy, but with a ridiculous amount of leg room.

Belama legroom

Solomons – the inflight magazine for Solomon Airlines.

Solomons Magazine

This was my first time flying with Solomon Airlines (and visiting the Solomons for that matter), so the route maps were of special interest to me. Internationally, Solomon Airlines also fly to Fiji, Vanuatu, PNG, and Kiribati.

Route maps

Domestically I had not heard of any of these places, though I will soon become familiar with the names.

Islands map

Even the advertising in the inflight magazine is interesting when you are visiting a new country. Ads for the national beer and a telecoms company.

Advertising

Also interesting is the airline fleet. Solomon Airlines has a single Airbus A320-200 (the aircraft we were on), which operates the international flights. Domestic flights are with Dash 8 and Twin Otter aircraft.

Solomon Airlines aircraft fleet

A last glimpse of the Australian coast.

Australian coast

Solomon Airlines is a full-service airline, and lunch is served on this flight. I got the chicken and rice.

Chicken lunch

A tea and coffee service is provided after lunch. There is no inflight entertainment units, so charge up your own tablets, reading devices, or bring an old-fashioned paper book.

Coffee break

A Solomon Islands immigration form is provided inflight. Australians don’t need a visa to travel to Solomon Islands. For other countries check the visa policy.

Solomon Islands Immigration form

The excitement of arriving at a new city and seeing a country for the first time.

Above Honiara

Honiara Airport is a small airport and there are no airbridges. Disembarking on the tarmac is the ultimate way to arrive in a tropical country.

Disembark at HIR

I like tarmac disembarkation when you walk to the terminal (better than by the bus). I might have changed my tune if it was raining though.

Walking to terminal

While waiting for my bag I was happy the see the hotel I was to stay at advertising a pool.

Heritage Park advertising

Overall this was a good flight to Honiara, and as the national flag carrier they fly the flag well. My next flight with them was on a Dash 8 aircraft, which was a highlight of the trip. Read more about my week in Solomon Islands.

Filed Under: Flight Review Tagged With: bne airport, hir airport, solomon airlines, solomon islands

About James Clark

James Clark is the founder of Nomadic Notes. He has been a digital nomad since 2003, and Nomadic Notes features trip reports, train travel articles, and where to stay guides. He writes about transport and urban development at Future Southeast Asia. Subscribe to the weekly travel newsletter.

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James Clark from Nomadic Notes

Hi, I’m James Clark, and I've been travelling the world since 2003 while running a location independent travel business. Nomadic Notes is a travel blog featuring travel guides and notes from my travels.

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