Airport to be extended to cater for Boeing planes

Business

By Lemach Lavari
THE Kagamuga Airport in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands, will be extended to accommodate Air Niugini’s
Boeing aircraft, according to the airline.
Air Niugini acting chief executive Marco McConnell said airport infrastructure was important to the development of agriculture in Papua New Guinea and upgrading the capacity of airports would create more opportunities.
“The four pillars as assigned by the government indicate that Mt Hagen is the agriculture hub of the country,” he said.
“Realising this, we are proud to announce the runway extension to the capacity of Boeing 737. With the Boeing aircraft, we can transport more people and more cargo. This means more agricultural products can be transported out of Mt Hagen.”
McConnell was speaking during the inaugural agriculture summit yesterday in Port Moresby. The three-day summit ends today.
He said Air Niugini would also ensure that new or developing PNG-made agricultural business products would attract a 50 per cent reduction in rates. This will apply for all Air Niugini routes to assist the growth of home-grown products.