Air Niugini
IATA ICAO Callsign
PX ANG NIUGINI[1]
Founded1973
HubsPort Moresby International Airport
Frequent-flyer programDestinations
SubsidiariesLink PNG
Fleet size19
Destinations39
HeadquartersPort Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Key peopleGary Seddon (Acting CEO)
Websiteairniugini.com.pg

Air Niugini Limited is the national airline of Papua New Guinea, based in Air Niugini House on the property of Port Moresby International Airport, Port Moresby.[2] It operates a domestic network from Port Moresby to 12 major airports while its subsidiary company, Link PNG, operates routes to minor airports. It also operates international services in Asia, Oceania, and Australia on a weekly basis. Its main base is Port Moresby International Airport, which is located in 7 Mile, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.[3] Niugini is the Tok Pisin word for New Guinea.

History

Air Niugini Fokker F28 in the 1980s
Air Niugini Airbus A310-300 in the 1990s

The airline was established in November 1973 as the national airline of Papua New Guinea with the government holding 60% of the shares, with the rest divided between Australian airline companies Ansett (16%), Qantas (12%) and Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) (12%).[3] It started as an exclusively domestic carrier; however it expanded to offer international services shortly thereafter. In founding the airline, the government aimed to encourage regional development in a country without an extensive road network. The airline was established using DC-3 and Fokker F27 aircraft.[4]

In 1975 when PNG gained independence, pilots from the two airlines operating for the government were from Ansett Australia and Trans Australia Airlines. The majority of these pilots elected to return to these companies and continue their careers in Australia. This left a huge shortage in the pilot strength (over 95%) and consequently replacements were recruited from both Australia and New Zealand. These pilots had little or no experience in airline operations and few if any skills or experience operating in the extremely hostile environs of PNG.

Nonetheless, they were trained by the outgoing pilots from Ansett and TAA and with the first class training behind them continued to provide safe and reliable services to all of PNG. When Air Niugini took over the international routes - then operated by Qantas - once again the senior pilots were called upon to convert from basic turboprop aircraft (F27) to B707-338C 4-engine jet aircraft. Considerable alarm was expressed that these "jungle pilots" could not possibly operate large jet aircraft hitherto flown by Qantas flight crews. Again with excellent training and support from Qantas, the PX crews converted successfully to the venerable B707 and from there took over all the check and training on those two aircraft and continued thereafter to the various replacement aircraft being primarily A300-B4, A310-300, B757 and B767.

There were two crashes internally on the domestic operation with the total loss of one F28 aircraft and one DHC7, both due to pilot error. No deaths or injuries occurred in either crash.

International services commenced very early on in the history of the airline with a leased Boeing 720 from 6 February 1976 to 2 February 1977. This was later replaced with a Boeing 707 purchased from Qantas.[5][6] During the late 1970s, internal services were performed by a combination of Fokker F28 jet and Fokker F27 turbo-prop aircraft. By the end of 1975 Air Niugini leased Boeing 727-200 type aircraft from Ansett and TAA to serve routes to Brisbane.[7] The airline also acquired a lease of a Boeing 707 from Qantas to commence a weekly service to Manila and Hong Kong.[7] In 1976, the government bought out the Qantas and TAA holdings and in 1980 acquired the Ansett shares to make the airline wholly government owned. The fleet of F-27s was phased out in the early 1980s with the introduction of the newly developed de Havilland Canada Dash 7 four-engine turbo-prop.

In 1979, Air Niugini opened routes to Honolulu and to Singapore via Jakarta. That same year, new facilities were opened at Jacksons Airport and new Sales Offices opened in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Europe and the United States.[8] Air Niugini operated their Boeing 707 from Auckland to Hong Kong via Port Moresby in a tripartite agreement with Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific. This service ran from 1981 to 1985.

In 1984, the airline replaced the two Boeing 707 aircraft with an Airbus A300 on lease from TAA. This was replaced several years later with two Airbus A310s as the carrier expanded to offer flights principally between Australian Eastern capital cities and destinations in Asia such as Singapore and Manila via their hub Port Moresby.

The airline endured considerable hardships in the 1990s, with unrest in Bougainville and a volcanic eruption in Rabaul destabilising the company's busiest domestic services. The Asian currency crisis also made an impact, with Air Niugini posting financial losses during this decade. The government of Papua New Guinea responded by cutting jobs from the airline, suppressing wages, as well as opening offices in Asia and Europe in an attempt at having the airline run profitably. The reforms bore fruit by 2003, with the airline posting a profit of US$15.8 million for that year.

A Boeing 767 was acquired in August 2002, replacing the Airbus aircraft, and was used to offer expanded international services.[9] Combined with aggressive pricing, this made it the most competitively priced airline on many of its routes. A sharing agreement still exists with Qantas in which that airline buys "blocks" of seats on Air Niugini's flights between Port Moresby and Australia.

The financial turnaround seems to have stymied pressure from various sectors, including the IMF and the Australian Government, to privatise the national carrier. The PNG government has voiced concerns that privatisation would jeopardise domestic routes that provide a vital service to regional people and encourage economic development, but which fail to realise a profit.

From September 2004, Fokker 100s have been introduced to start to replace the aging Fokker F28 aircraft that are used on domestic routes, the daily Cairns service, and the twice a week service to Honiara in the Solomon Islands.

In March 2006, Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Don Polye announced an open air policy, which would allow other airlines to fly international routes into and from Papua New Guinea. The policy will take effect in 2007.[10]

In December 2007, Air Niugini returned its leased Boeing 767 aircraft to its owners, Air New Zealand.[11] The airline briefly entered a wet lease arrangement with Viva Macau before taking up a lease with Icelandair for a Boeing 767-300ER and a Boeing 757-200W. The 757 was returned in March 2011 and replaced with two additional 767-300ER aircraft.[12]

On 18 April 2008, flights commenced on the Sydney-Port Moresby route initially using leased Embraer 190 aircraft leased from SkyAirWorld of Australia.[13]

On 15 October 2014, Air Niugini announced a wholly owned subsidiary airline company, Link PNG, which commenced operations on 1 November 2014 to coincide with Air Niugini's 41 years of operation.[14] Link PNG principally services routes to provincial and district centres which were being operated by the Air Niugini Dash-8-Q200 and Q300 aircraft. 7 Fokker-70 aircraft were acquired (October 2015) from KLM and were transferred during Oct-Dec 2015.

In June 2018, people rioting in the town of Mendi following disputed election results destroyed a Link PNG Dash-8 at the town's airport.[15]

On 14 June 2019, Air Niugini announced it would take over the Cairns-Hong Kong route that Cathay Pacific was abandoning. They would fly via Port Moresby hoping to have considerable income derived from transporting live seafood to Asian markets.[16]

Air Niugini announced the order of two Boeing 787-8 as replacements for their pair of aging 767-300ER.[17][18]

Destinations

An Air Niugini Boeing 737-800 at Jacksons International Airport, the airline's hub, during 2015

Air Niugini operates to 23 domestic destinations and 8 international destinations in 6 countries across Asia and Oceania as of May 2023:[19]

Codeshare agreements

Air Niugini has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[20]

Fleet

Current Air Niugini fleet

Air Niugini Boeing 767-300ER
Air Niugini Boeing 757-200 at Sydney Airport
Air Niugini Fokker 100 at Brisbane Airport

As of August 2023, the Air Niugini fleet consists of the following aircraft:[22]

Air Niugini fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
B E Total
Airbus A220-100 — 8[23] TBA Six A220-100 ordered with the remainder sourced from lessors
Airbus A220-300 3[23] TBA
Boeing 737-800 2 2[24][25] 20 138 158
Boeing 767-300ER 2 — 28 167 195 To be replaced by Boeing 787-8
Boeing 787-8 — 2 24 218 242 To replace Boeing 767-300ER[26][27]
Deliveries from 2026[28]
Fokker 70 6 — 8 65 73 To be phased out and replaced by Airbus A220
Fokker 100 7 — 8 93 101
Bombardier Dash-8-400 3 6[25][24][29] — 76 76
Total 20 21

Air Niugini has announced it will replace the Fokker fleet with the Airbus A220-100/300.[30][31] The airline will also wet-lease an additional Boeing B767-300ER from September, 2023.[29]

The Link PNG fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of September 2022):[32]

Link PNG fleet
Aircraft In fleet Orders Passengers[33] Notes
Bombardier Dash 8-300 5 — 50
Bombardier Dash 8-200 2 — 30
Total 7

Former fleet

Air Niugini retired fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A300B4 3 1984 1989 lsd
Airbus A310-300 3 1989 2008 1 lsd from White Portugal
Boeing 707 3 1977 1985 1 lsd for 3 times
Boeing 720 1 1976 1977
Boeing 737-200 1 1989 1990 lsd from TEA UK
Boeing 737-700 1 2012 2021 Partially scrapped
Boeing 757-200 4 2008 2014 lsd from Icelandair
de Havilland Canada Dash 7 3 1981 1992 P2-ANP written off in 1992

Aircraft that have limited info:[34]

Incidents

Air Niugini Flight PX73

In the morning of 28 September 2018, Flight PX 73[20] (Operated by Boeing 737-800 P2-PXE) landed 150 yards (140 m) short of the runway into a lagoon off Chuuk International Airport in Weno, Chuuk of the Federated States of Micronesia. There were forty seven people on board the aircraft (thirty six passengers and eleven crew). According to initial reports, all forty seven survived, and there were no serious injuries.[35] However, shortly after the crash, the airline reported one missing passenger. On Monday, 1 October, two days after the crash, Air Niugini announced the death of a single male passenger.[36]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Airline Codes". The Airline Codes Web Site. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  2. ↑ "Privacy Policy." Air Nuigini. Retrieved on 3 February 2011. "Air Niugini House Port Moresby, National Capital District Jackson’s Airport"
  3. 1 2 Flight International 27 March 2007
  4. ↑ "ANG Fleet History". Airniugini.com.pg. 31 May 2006. Archived from the original on 7 October 2006.
  5. ↑ "VH-JET#1 & Her Sisters - VH-EBU/P2-ANH". 707.adastron.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "VH-JET#1 & Her Sisters - photo of the Boeing 707 & the Boeing 720B it replaced". 707.adastron.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  7. 1 2 ANG History, AirNiugini.com
  8. ↑ International Growth, AirNiugini.com
  9. ↑ "ANG fleet". Airniugini.com.pg. 31 May 2006. Archived from the original on 6 October 2006.
  10. ↑ Pacific Magazine
  11. ↑ Trevor Michie. "ANG in 2007". Michie.net. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  12. ↑ "IslandBusiness". Archived from the original on 29 October 2007.
  13. ↑ Trevor Michie. "ANG in 2008". Michie.net. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  14. ↑ centreforaviation.com. "LINK PNG". centreforaviation.com. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  15. ↑ Tlozek, Eric (14 June 2018). "Angry protesters burn passenger plane after PNG Highlands' election result". ABC News. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  16. ↑ "Papua New Guinea's National Airline | Air Niugini Ready To Take Up The Cairns/Hong Kong Route via Port Moresby". Air Niugini. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  17. ↑ "Air Niugini orders 787 Dreamliners". Business Traveller. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  18. ↑ "Air Niugini Orders Two Boeing 787-8s". Simple Flying. 6 June 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  19. ↑ Air Nuigini Timetable as of 07 May 2023
  20. 1 2 "Profile on Air Niugini". CAPA. Centre for Aviation. Archived from the original on 2 November 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  21. ↑ "Air Niugini Increases Services Between Port Moresby And Hong Kong". www.airniugini.com.pg. 16 February 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  22. ↑ "Air Niugini Fleet Details and History". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  23. 1 2 Kupietzky, Joshua (1 November 2023). "Air Niugini Orders 6 New Airbus A220-100s". Simple Flying. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  24. 1 2 "Air Niugini secures extra B737-800, DHC-8-400". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  25. 1 2 "Airline committed to safety". postcourier.com.pg. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  26. ↑ "Canberra to assist PNG's Air Niugini with fleet renewal push". ch-aviation. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  27. ↑ "Air Niugini Becomes New Dreamliner Customer, Finalizing Order for Two Boeing 787-8s". MediaRoom. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  28. ↑ Story, Mark (12 July 2023). "Massive fleet upgrade to transform Papua New Guinea's Air Niugini". Business Advantage PNG. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  29. 1 2 "K2.5bil for new aircraft – The National". www.thenational.com.pg. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  30. ↑ "News for Airlines, Airports and the Aviation Industry | CAPA". centreforaviation.com. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  31. ↑ "PNG Government approves purchasing of New Jet for Air Niugini". PNG Facts. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  32. ↑ "Global Airline Guide 2016 (Part Two)". Airliner World (November 2016): 28.
  33. ↑ "Link PNG Fleet Details and History". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  34. ↑ Trevor Michie. "Air Niugini Fleet Information". Michie.net. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  35. ↑ Wilkinson, Bard (28 September 2018). "Air Niugini plane misses runway, lands in sea off Micronesia island - CNN". Edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  36. ↑ "Air Niugini confirms 1 dead in Chuuk island plane crash into Pacific lagoon just short of runway". CBS News. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
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