By MALUM NALU
Air Niugini will begin regular flights to Daru, Western province, on Thursday, June 21, 2012, after a 12-year absence which has seen airfares between Daru and Port Moresby rise to among the highest in the country.
Hundreds of people lined up the perimeter of Daru Airport on June 1 to
watch the Q400 land with many openly shedding tears of joy.
Air Niugini will begin regular flights to Daru, Western province, on Thursday, June 21, 2012, after a 12-year absence which has seen airfares between Daru and Port Moresby rise to among the highest in the country.
Air Niugini acting general manager-commercial, Dominic
Kaumu, confirmed to me in Daru on Friday, June 1, after one of its Q400 aircraft
landed there to break the 12-year drought, that the airlines would resume flights later this month,
The last Air Niugini flight to Daru was on March 4, 2000,
after which it had to stop services because of the unsafe state of the runway.
The Q400 was able to land because of a K40
million airport upgrade funded 50-50 by PNG Sustainable Development Program
(PNGSDP) and Fly River provincial government through South Fly funding, with
construction undertaken by Global Construction and supervised by National
Airports Corporation.
Airlines PNG has had a virtual monopoly in the Daru-Port
Moresby route over the last 12 years, with airfares now being K999 one way.
Here are pictures of the historic Q400 flight to Daru on June 1.
Here are pictures of the historic Q400 flight to Daru on June 1.
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