Papua New Guinea Can be the Air Transport Hub of the Pacific
PM O’Neill shared his vision for aviation in the region at the rebranding of Airlines PNG as the new Air PNG, and the presentation of the new ATR-72-600 series aircraft that the airline will now fly.
“One thing I want to assure you, the industry and the shareholders, is that we will continue to build the capacity of the air transport sector in the country,” the Prime Minister said.
“Our long term vision is quite simple, we want to make Papua New Guinea the air transport hub of the Pacific.
“We are very much in flying distance and on the same time schedule with most of our neighbouring countries.
“We are eight hours to Beijing, just over seven hours to Seoul, and six hours to Singapore and Tokyo and Manila.
"This places our country a very unique geographical position for the regional and global air transport market.
“We know that investment in our airline industry is providing a good return for shareholders.
“We are now engaging with our neighbouring countries so that we can have more Air Services Agreements in place.
“We have very well established arrangements with Australia and recently opened air services with Indonesia.
“We are expanding to other Pacific island countries and I encourage PNG Air to look beyond current markets in expanding your operations.”
The Prime Minister thanked the two majority shareholders of the airline for remaining steadfast and investing in Airlines PNG at a time when the global aviation market is experiencing a number of pressures.
“I want to thank the Mineral Resources Development Company, representing many of the landowners, and NASFUND, representing many of the contributors from the private sector, for supporting and investing in the airline.
“Papua New Guinea, more than many country's in the world, relies on air transport more than any other mode of transportation.
“We are blessed with rugged and diverse terrain, but that also makes it difficult for other modes of transportation and we need the airlines industry’s support.”
The Prime Minister cut the ribbon to officially launch the new aircraft that can carry 72 passengers and is part of PNG Air’s re-fleeting program.
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