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Passengers assault PX Tari agent chief
By ANDREW ALPHONSE
ANGRY passengers at Tari airport on Monday
assaulted Air Niugini’s Tari agent manager Petrus Akema, accusing him of
allowing passengers of his choice to board the plane to Port Moresby and
not following the proper passenger manifest.
Among the stranded passengers were students, who were issued boarding
passes, but were forced out of the aircraft after checking-in.
They protested, and forced the aircraft to be grounded for three hours
and 45 minutes.
A mother, Marilyn Perry, told The National that her two daughters were
among the 36 passengers who were issued boarding passes for flight PX
865 but were denied boarding by the manager.
She claimed that the manager offloaded passengers with boarding passes
and allowed some high profile people and their families to board.
Mrs Perry said 12 students due to register for school yesterday, were
forced off the plane, while several passengers confirmed to fly and had
traveled in from long distances, were frustrated when they could not get
on the plane.
She said after they were off-loaded, the manager lied to them that there
would be a special flight later in the afternoon.
She said policemen engaged in the State of Emergency duties brought the
situation under control while the manager was taken to Tari SoE centre
to explain.
Mrs Peri said the passengers intended to take legal actions against Air
Niugini for denial of boarding, damages to perishable goods like fresh
pork and additional costs incurred while waiting for another flight.
Ticketing is done manually in Tari. Currently, Air Niugini operates
three daily flights on Sunday, Monday and Friday from Port Moresby to
Tari.
An airline staff at Port Moresby’s head office confirmed that the Tari
flight on Monday was delayed by three hours and 45 minutes.
But the official denied allegations of favouritism, adding that people
from Tari were good at complaining without understanding the processes
involved in ticketing.
A police officer at the Tari SoE office yesterday confirmed the
incident.
The officer said it was surprising that Tari agency collected cash but
take days before issuing tickets and boarding passes without proper
bookings.
The source said a bulk of students, who had been offloaded since last
Friday, Sunday and Monday are still stranded and waiting to get on the
next flight to Port Moresby.
 
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