A message from Air Niugini’s managing director

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope you celebrated the start of 2020 in good spirits with family, friends and loved ones. As we are now into the New Year, it’s always good to look ahead and think about what this year may bring us.

Although the current financial market and economic climate is no different to last year, we are optimistic. We do not expect a drastic turnaround, however with continuous focus on our Higher Altitudes transformation program, we are taking serious steps to further strengthen our financial performance, balance sheet and reduce our risk profile.

We have pulled out of commercially unviable routes and expanded our codeshare and ancillary revenue – more will follow in 2020.

Air Niugini has started Boeing 767 service on the expanded Cairns/ Port Moresby/ Hong Kong route after Cathay Pacific left in October last year. It’s another revenue stream for the airline in terms of both passengers and especially cargo. The flights are integral to the $AUD75 million export industry in the Cairns region, which includes local fresh produce and seafood destined for Hong Kong and the markets of China and the region.

Another clear example of improvement is the move by Air Niugini to become a key player in regional airline servicing with the introduction of the maintenance repair overhaul. Our first customer airline was Solomon Airline’s Dash 8 aircraft, where our engineering team did an excellent job and delivered the aircraft back to its owner on time and within budget. Word has already gone out and we are hopeful more regional airlines in Australia and the Pacific will be knocking on our door soon. The arrangement significantly contributes to the broader Papua New Guinea economy and ensures further skill enhancement for our engineering staff.

Air Niugini is also looking at fleet replacement. The priority for the next two to three years will be a replacement for our narrow-body jet aircraft, followed shortly thereafter by a replacement for our wide-bodied 767s. We are working with the various manufacturers to see what aircraft will best suit our purposes. Our objective in renewing the fleet with more efficient aircraft is to reduce costs, improve on on-time performance and reliability, lowering our operating cost-base and enabling lower airfares.

Air Niugini will continue to grow its partnership base as we believe the airline cannot achieve a full transformation alone. Partnerships will become our strength as we leverage on existing resources and facilities, and implement the strategies mentioned above.

I take this opportunity to thank you all and look forward to your support and patronage this year.