Airport upgrade affecting sector

MADANG Tourism Industry Association (MTIA) is not happy with how the National Airports Corporation (NAC) is handling the Madang airport upgrade.
President Sir Peter Barter said the upgrade had inconvenienced the province’s tourism sector.
Sir Peter said that the only aircraft able to land were twin otter or smaller aircraft and helicopters which would not handle the capacity required, and the expense of chartering aircraft to provide bridging flights to Lae was prohibitive.
The association claimed that closure of the airport from July 21 to Aug 8 prevented any Air Niugini or Airlines PNG aircraft from landing.
“Members of MTIA, which includes most hotels and businesses, condemn the way in which NAC has handled the upgrading of the Madang Airport which has been caused by their planning, engineering and management resulting in a closure that will have a far reaching impact on the economy including the possible closure of hotels and other businesses that rely on air transport,” Sir Peter said.
“Air travel in PNG is not a luxury, it is an essential means of communication, safe transport not of only people but also of cargo, medicines and in some cases, lives of people.
“For such a closure to take place in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic is totally absurd, and unacceptable,” Sir Peter said.
“I have been a resident of Madang for more than 55 years, in all these years despite various upgrades, the airport has never been closed apart from rare weather events.”
Meanwhile, the acting managing director of NAC, Rex Kionge advised the MTIA and chamber of commerce that under the method of works plan (MOWP) for the Madang aerodrome, runway reconstruction was currently proceeding on stage five and was planned for completion on July 22, depending on the weather.
The runway length available is 820m and is suitable for Dash 8, ATR and smaller aircraft.
Kiponge said work on MOWP stage six was planned to commence on July 23 with only 680m of runway length available which was not suitable for Dash 8 and ATR type aircraft however the runway would be available for Twin Otter and smaller aircraft during this three-week period.
“Work on MOWP stage seven is planned to start on Aug 14 and take three weeks to complete. The runway length available will be 880m which will permit operation by Dash 8, ATR and smaller aircraft.
“The full runway length of 1,570m will be available on Oct 31 for F100 and smaller aircraft.
“I request you be patient and allow the work on the runway to be properly completed.
“NAC cannot and will not comprise with safety of the travelling public.
“Work on the full length of the Madang aerodrome must be allowed to complete on time before commencement of full service.”
Sir Peter said he had since made contact with the major charter aircraft operators.
He said Tropic Air had tentatively agreed to have a twin otter in Madang and possibly an additional Cessna Caravan to provide ferry services between Madang/Mt Hagen, Madang/Nadzab and Madang/Goroka to provide for essential air services that would connect to both Air Niugini and Airlines PNG services, the full details of this service would be announced early next week.
“The Madang chamber of commerce as well as the Madang Tourist Industry association welcomed the tentative link services which will alleviate the isolation that would have been created by the total closure of the Madang Airport.”