Airport opening put off

By GYNNIE KERO in Mendi
THE opening of the redeveloped K41.7 million Mendi Airport in Southern Highlands scheduled for yesterday has been deferred to next month because of safety requirements for landing, says Governor William Powi.
Preparations were advanced and guests were already in Mendi for the ceremony yesterday when the deferral announcement was made.
Powi said: “The last minute deferral was due to safety requirements of landing for PNG Air and other operating airliners. We have waited almost a decade for this to happen. Unfortunately, we were asked that we wait patiently for another two weeks before landing an aircraft in Mendi will come to a reality.”
He said a test flight was expected to be carried out yesterday for landing and take-off as required by law, and then all safety requirements would have been met.
“That did not eventuate,” he said.
According to the National Airports Corporation, Mendi airport is expected to be opened on May 2.
The National could not ascertain why arrangements were made to re-open the airport with essential approvals still outstanding.
Powi said the event was expected to coincide with the launching of the Mendi-Munihu five-year road map.
Meanwhile in September last year, Mt Hagen’s Kagamuga airport had to undergo repairs after the National Airport Corporation identified a deficiency on a 180m section of the runway pavement. A statement from the corporation said the runway needed immediate attention. To ensure the safety of passengers and aircraft, the corporation enlisted the services of a contractor to undertake repair works.
It operates separately from the contractor for the Mt Hagen Airport. The repair works began on the Sept 27.
Flights into Kagamuga Airport had to downgraded from the Fokker-100 aircraft operations to the Q-400 (or similar) initially, then to the Fokker-70 aircraft.
Last month, the Tokua airport in Kokopo, East New Britain also had to undergo repairs, limiting Air Niugini aircraft operations there.
The reduction of the runway to just 850 meters will pose operational challenges, impacting Air Niugini’s ability to operate at full capacity.
The airline company has been forced to operate a reduced service to Rabaul since May 2023, which is the last time the Fokker jets were able to land at Tokua, due to the poor state of the airport runway.
Air Niugini acting chief executive officer Gary Seddon said: “We understand the inconvenience this may cause to our passengers and cargo clients.
However, safety remains our top priority, and we are committed to cooperating with the authorities to ensure that necessary repairs and upgrades are completed efficiently.”