Air Vanuatu collapse: Heavily pregnant Aussie woman among those stranded on Pacific island after airline suddenly went into voluntary liquidation

A heavily pregnant woman is one of the many Australians stranded in Vanuatu as the Pacific island country's national airline went into voluntary liquidation on Friday. 

On Thursday it emerged that all international flights scheduled on Air Vanuatu until Sunday had been cancelled, as the government 'reviewed' the airline's future. 

But just hours later, the airline entered voluntary liquidation, stranding hundreds of passengers, including Melbourne woman Adara Brooks, who is 31 weeks pregnant. 

Ms Brooks said she and her husband Tyler were about to leave for the airport when they heard their flight had been cancelled, and the next flight out could now be weeks away.

'We are definitely pretty keen to get home,' she told the Today show. 'We have two little toddlers at home as well. We are keen to get home as soon as we can.'

The couple will also have to pay a lot of money to get home to Australia as Mr Brooks said their insurance won't cover their flights home.

'We've got travel insurance, but it's not covered, so we'll be out of pocket probably thousands and thousands of dollars,' he said.

'There's fine print on most travel insurances that don't cover administration or liquidation, unfortunately.'

The couple said they may be able to get a flight to Fiji or New Caledonia and then fly from there to Australia, but for the moment they are stuck in Vanuata and just weeks away from their third baby being born. 

Ernst and Young (EY) Australia's Morgan Kelly, Justin Walsh and Andrew Hanson were appointed as liquidators on Friday.

This was attributed to the result of 'extended maintenance requirements' on Air Vanuatu's aircraft.

EY said it would conduct safety and maintenance checks before the resumption of normal operations.

Mr Kelly, partner in strategy and transactions, said the airline's existing management team would remain in place throughout the process.

'Air Vanuatu is critical to the people of the Republic of Vanuatu and a strategically important business to the nation,' he said.

'Our team is working closely with management to ensure continuity of service to customers and to ensure services continue as seamlessly as possible.

'The outlook for the airline is positive, despite pressures on the broader industry, and we will be focused on securing the future of this strategically vital national carrier.'

Affected travellers would be informed of this disruption and rebooked on flights as soon as operations resumed.

Air Vanuatu has been teetering on the edge of financial ruin after reports the Vanuatu government appointed EY to advise the government.

'The Vanuatu government is now considering placing Air Vanuatu ... into voluntary administration,' the airline said on Thursday.

It operates four planes, including one Boeing 737 and three turboprop planes.

The Vanuatu Tourism Office said it was aware of reports Air Vanuatu had entered voluntary administration.

'We are conscious of the impact this situation has on travellers, ticket holders and the industry and on behalf of the Vanuatu tourism industry extend our apologies to anyone affected,' it said in a statement.

'This is an evolving situation and we will continue to post updates.'

Australia's national carrier Qantas does not operate flights into Vanuatu but has a codeshare agreement with the airline to link passengers to the nation.

Qantas said it was supporting customers affected by the cancellations to find alternative flights.

It also encouraged any customers with bookings on Air Vanuatu between now and the end of May to contact their flight provider for refunds.

Virgin Australia is the only other Australian airline to operate into Vanuatu with its scheduled flights continuing to go ahead.

The airline's struggles followed the collapse of Australian budget start-up Bonza, which had just started flying about a year ago.

Bonza's planes have begun to be removed from Australia before the airline's financial crisis is laid bare at a creditors' meeting.