Governor subsidises fares for travellers

 By SHIRLEY MAULUDU

AIR Niugini passengers travelling to and from Wapenamanda will pay less on airfares.

Enga Governor Peter Ipatas has given K200,000 to Air Nuigini and further committed K1 million to airfare subsidy for this year. The balance will be paid to the airline at K250,000 per quarter. 

Ipatas said it was to help people travelling to and from Enga. 

“Basically we provide the subsidy in order to give our less fortunate people, especially the ones that do not have vehicles, people who are subsistence farmers who don’t have the money to pay the extra fare. It’s actually meant to assist the small people of Enga.

“Even though we’ve got the big Pogera mine up there, the people of the province really don’t see any direct benefit. So this is one of the benefits that they can gain through the provincial government – revenues from the Government as well as royalties from Pogera mine that we collect.”

Air Niugini chief executive officer Simon Foo said the provincial government had been working with Air Niugini on flights into the province. 

“We’ve seen it as a very positive move by the governor and his team to assist Air Niugini to provide extra service for his people,” Foo said.