The bird of paradise
pp. 39-40 · Read in the full issue
IN Papua New Guinea, all roads lead to an airport. Rugged mountain ranges and dense tropical jungle have established the aircraft as king, with thousands of people across the country reliant on air services for basic supplies and transport. This year, as PNG celebrates its 20th year of indepen dence, the country’s national airline, Air Niugini, reflects on 22 years of aviation excellence that has contributed to the growth of a nation.
Aviation has played a crucial role in the development of PNG since the first European exploratory expeditions in the 1920 s and the gold-rush boom in the fol lowing decade. Air Niugini continues the tradition, flying mining engineers across the country, tracking the minerals that have led to the growth of PNG’s most successful export industry.
Air Niugini began operations in November 1973 using aircraft from Ansett and TAA (now Qantas Australian Airlines).
The fleet consisted of 20 aircraft eight Fokker Friendship F27s and 12 Douglas DC3s. The name Air Niugini proudly paint ed in the airline colours was taken from the pidgin for New Guinea.
In its first year of operation, Air Niugini carried over 350,000 passengers. As local destinations were added and passengers increased, Air Niugini was able to play a major role in unifying the remote provinces of Papua New Guinea, assisting progress towards Independence in 1975.
In the early 1980 s, computerisation of the reservation system was completed and the now internationally recognised logo of the raggiana bird of paradise was unveiled.
The in-flight magazine of the airline, Paradise, began and won several promi nent awards, including the prestigious PATA Gold Award for the best in-flight mag azine in 1988.
The Air Niugini fleet has also developed and expanded. Today the airline operates six F2B-1000S, two F2B-4000 and two Dash-7 45-seater aircraft domestically, while the international routes are serviced by two Airbus 310-300 s.
Air Niugini has a route network with eight international destinations including Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Honiara and Jayapura as well as servicing 20 domestic airports in PNG. Sales offices are now located in Europe, the United States, Asia and Australia. The Air Niugini network, under the direction of chief executive Dieter Seefeld, has also expanded to offer innov ative services to its customers. Air Niugini
has been instrumental in promoting PNG as an exotic destination to the international tourism market. Package tours now cater for a variety of traveller interests. The air line offers weekend breaks for business travellers in PNG, adventure holidays fea turing whitewater rafting, trekking the Kokoda Trail and visits to remote villages, as well as special eco-tourism itineraries.
The airline was recently awarded a plaque from the Professional Association of Dive Instructors for an outstanding contri bution by an airline to dive tourism. The award signified formal recognition of Air Niugini’s role in the promotion of PNG as a premier professional and amateur driving
location by offering innovative charters and tours for enthusiast in exciting across the country.
The airline assists local exporters with the transport of cargoes of local seafood flown fresh to Hong Kong and Japan using overnight domestic flights connecting with early morning international services.
This year’s Independence celebrations in PNG are especially poignant with the 50th anniversary of the end of World War Two. Air Niugini recognises the strong rela tionship with its Pacific neighbours strengthened during World War Two battles in places such as Kokoda. This year, the airline has taken many veterans back to
Air Niugini’s A310 Airbus approaches descends into Hong Kong
PNG to attend memorial services for sol diers killed in action.
In August this year, the airline assisted Rotary International and the Returned Services League of Australia to bring rep resentatives of the Papuan Infantry Battalion and the “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels” to
Sydney for the Victory in the Pacific Day Commonwealth March and Service. The attendance of these veterans signified the role played by the people of PNG in
defending the Pacific region.
Today, Air Niugini embodies the pride of a young nation. Local people enjoy watch
ing their airline take off with its raggiana bird of paradise blazing as it flies to repre sent PNG at destinations in other parts of the world. This year, Air Niugini reflects on its contribution to the growth of a nation and looks to continuing its success in the 21st Century.