It has emerged that when FJ263 took off from Nadi on Tuesday afternoon, the crew and passengers onboard had no idea what the extent of the damage in Vanuatu was due to the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that had struck an hour before.

Fiji Airways has confirmed that its flight FJ263 to Port Vila on Tuesday returned to Nadi after the crew couldn’t establish contact with the Bauerfield International Airport.

The flights path captured by Flight radar shows it had made the journey halfway to Vanuatu before returning to Nadi.

The flight had departed Nadi at 2:30pm and was scheduled to land in Port Vila around 3:15pm. Tuesdays 7.3m earthquake was recorded at 1:47pm.

Vanuatu nationals have posted pictures on social media on their return to Nadi and the airline checking them into a Nadi hotel.