Papua New Guinea Minister for State Enterprises William Duma has announced the National Executive Council's approval on new narrow body regional jet for National carrier Air Niugini. Minister Duma has formally announced that after an exhaustive and detailed program, Air Niugini had chosen the Airbus A220-100 and A220-300 aircraft to replace the Forkker F70 and F100 regional jets. Minister Duma in press conference said the decision was endorsed and approved by the NEC, chaired by Prime Minister James Marape for Air Niugini to now proceed to the next phase of the program. "The new aircraft is a game changer for the people of PNG. The A220 can deliver our domestic services and our international services with greater capacity,comfort and greater operating efficiency," he said. Minister Duma commended the Acting CEO of Air Niugini Gary Seddon and his team for the tireless and comprehensive effort to select the right aircraft to secure the future of the airline for the next 15 years.
Under this program Air Niugini will acquire 13 new aircraft in total, which includes 11 Airbus A220 narrow body and Two (2) Boeing 787 wide body jets at a total value of USD 850 million or K2.55 billion. " This will be financed through external export credit agencies (80 %) borrowing and our own equity (20%)," Minister Duma said. Meantime, Acting CEO of Air Niugini Gary Seddon said the aircrafts will be delivered in the first quarter of 2025. He said their operations will not be affected leading up to the delivery of the aircrafts as they have measures in place to address whatever issues that arise before the arrival of the new aircrafts. Mr Seddon also joined Minister Duma in acknowledging the continued support from the Marape/Rosso Government. Statement/KalangNews/PNGfacts Also read Comments are closed.
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