PAPUA New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority chief executive officer Peter Vincent says Air Niugini has become an embarrassment in the global travel and tourism market with its continuous flight disruptions.
Mr Vincent said the PNG tourism industry continued to suffer as a result of the airline’s continued failure to maintain effective and efficient flight schedules both on its domestic and international sectors.
“Air Niugini is an internationally recognised airline and has a reputation to uphold. Airlines around the globe today continued to play a major role in the development of tourism, unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Air Niugini given its ongoing problems,” Mr Vincent said in a statement.
He was reacting to news that international flights had been disrupted and passengers left stranded after its B767-300 aircraft leased from Viva Macau developed a technical problem last Friday in Brisbane and became unserviceable.
Another aircraft chartered to service this route also developed problems and was grounded, compounding the situation further. This is affecting both inbound and outbound passengers, including international tourists.
Mr Vincent said: “It is also unfair on our tourism industry partners, especially small Papua New Guinean tour operators, who simply cannot afford tour cancellations and missed business opportunities.
“More worrying is the doubts and frustrations PNG as an alternate tourism destination, continued to create in the minds of international visitors to our country as a result of the continuous flight disruptions,” he said.

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