New planes keeping PNG Air flying

By SHIRLEY MAULUDU
PNG Air has made much progress since the company’s annual general meeting last year, board chairman Murray Woo says.
He told the annual general meeting yesterday in Port Moresby that the progress in particular was the strategic plan put in place by the board four years ago involving
re-fleeting with the ATR aircraft
and rebranding to the PNG Air name.
“We have now grown the company’s fleet to include seven brand new ATR 72-600 aircraft, with the latest arrival in service over the current Christmas peak season,” Woo said.
“The major thrust of the strategic plan was to emphasise the company’s RPT (regular passenger travel) business, as that is the segment of the PNG aviation market which both shows tremendous growth potential and is sustainable through the peaks and troughs that will occur in the PNG economy while it remains heavily dependent on global resources markets.
“Up to the adoption of the strategic plan, charter operations had provided more than half of the company’s revenue.
“The transformation of the business from a small charter airline to becoming the domestic airline of choice has been the focus for the board and management.”
Woo said the airline had long suffered from lack of capacity, and re-fleeting had helped overcome that issue.
“With five ATRs operating from the start of 2017, the sixth for half the year and the seventh for the peak season, we expect 2017 to be a better year than previous years in terms of revenue.
“And as all seven ATRs operate throughout 2018, we expect better performance again, with the hard work done over the past years reflected in improved results.
“Our optimism regarding the PNG economy comes from a number of sources, but particularly from the steady progress of the various LNG projects and political stability after completion of this year’s national elections.