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| Paul Abbot and passengers disembark at Gurney Airport Miline Bay Papua New Guinea |
By FIDELIS SUKINA
It’s not often you would say “I was in three different
provinces in one day”, flying to three locations from morning till afternoon,
if you are a pilot or flight attendant it would be understood, but for me a
journalist to travel in the new ATR 72-600 aircraft, of PNG Air from 7am to
5:25pm return was a great experience.
I had the chance to travel to a few airports over five days
with the new aircraft and it was a great feeling, but that’s another story this
story is about the inaugural flight.
Airlines PNG rebranded itself to PNG Air, launching the new
name and a new ATR aircraft on the 4th of November 2015.
The new ATR started operations on Monday 16thof November
to ease the burden of Christmas travel, ports which the aircraft will go to
include Gurney, Rabaul, Mt Hagen, Daru, Kiunga, Goroka, Hoskins, Madang and
Wewak to
name a few.
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| The New ATR 72-600 at Nazab Airport Mor |
In front of stake holders the business community and
representatives of the National Government, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill
launched the aircraft and the name change at the Defense Force Air Transport
Wing Hanger at the Jacksons Airport in Port Moresby.
After seeing the aircraft and touring it I was looking
forward to the history making flight of PNG Air P2 ATR.
The inaugural flight was on the next day to Morobe Province
where senior management of obe ProvincePNG Air a few staff and media personnel travelled to
Nazab airport.
As the plane landed on the Nazab tarmac clapping and cheers
followed the historical moment, you could see the grin and smiles by the
passengers and for the airline management a sigh of relief after two years of
planning this great milestone by PNG Air, smooth landing after a smooth flight.
As brief as it was, it was a huge millstone a singsing group
was there swaying in welcome and with a drenching wash down by the Airport Fire
Service fitting as there was water restrictions in Port Moresby where the
traditional wash down was given the red light.
I could not believe that I was one of the lucky persons to
walk down a new plane on its maiden flight in its new home the land of rugged
mountains thousands of cultures and heavily dependent on air transport “Papua New Guinea”.
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| Traditional Dancers welcoming guests to Lae Airport |
As the singsing group
danced and the crowds gathered outside the airport, I was pulsating in
adrenaline taking as much pictures as I could of the plane and the atmosphere
that was still radiating on a high, beating the ever scorching heat of dry
Papua New Guinea.
That really complimented the smell of the aircraft new and fresh
straight from Toulouse assembled and still smelling like heaven on wings.
A draped tail with the PNG Air logo a design that culminates
a collection of 18 modern redefined works of art from Papua New Guinea showing
faces and the scenery of our great nation captured on the tail of the aircraft
a sign of modern day PNG and the future moving forward for the Airline.
“That painting on the tail took them three times longer to
put it on, and it is as new as it gets no second hand stuff” said PNG Air chief
commercial officer Paul Abbot
“This aircraft costs $20millionUS and that seat you are
sitting on is half a million so don’t break it” Paul said as he smiled at me
PNG Air is looking to get 12 ATR Aircrafts in PNG by 2020 to
phase out the Dash 8 fleet that is servicing the ports of Papua New Guinea and
Paul kept the good news flying in.
“This new ATR aircraft takes us to 15 in the fleet every
time a new ATR comes in we will sell off or retire one of the Dash 8s, our goal
is to have a dozen or more of these aircrafts to have a completely new fleet,
and yes all the new aircrafts will be assembled, painted and flown to PNG all
new nothing second hand”
“One more is due in
December another in March, another in June and by this time next year there
will be five, they are all on lease we negotiated a price with the ATR company
and found another company to finance it so they finance it and we lease them
off them, that allows us to speed up the introduction of this aircraft” Paul
said
Paul was more than excited to fly us by some of the
positives of the ATR even stressing on the fact that it was as new as the birth
of PNG Air.
“After the plane was assembled and finished painted, we did
two test flights in Toulouse (France where the plane was assembled) that was over
two days and then they handed over the keys and we flew it straight down here
it took four days and on Tuesday lunch time it arrived in Port Moresby and
Wednesday we launched it and we flew on Thursday this is brand new as new as it
gets”. He added with a smile of excitement
The plane was chosen for its low cost but high performance
ratio, something which technology is improving, and with only two choices of
propeller aircrafts ATR checked in with all of PNG Airs requirements soaring
over its nearest rival the Q400 Bombardier Dash 8.
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| PNG Air chief commercial officer Paul Abbot Talking to a college at Daru Airport Western Province |
“There are only two aircraft in this style the ATR and Q400
that have 72 seats, we went with this one because of fuel operating costs, flexibility
and safety it’s got slim design seats with more leg room and its lighter so we
can carry more freight and passengers so
it’s safe and durable as well and more
importantly it can go to all ports, Q400 is hard on runways, It won’t go to all
the runways we operate, so that puts the ATR ahead of the Q 400 and the
Fokker70 by Air Niugini that are limited to some ports in the country”.
“It is better on short runways and on unpaved ports, like in
Lihir for example where there is gravel, so it is very much the best choice”.
Paul said
It was a welcome for PNG and in fact for the grassroots with
tickets remaining the same and a lot cheaper as Paul mentioned whilst we were
still high up in the clouds somewhere in PNG.
“Our ticket sales are 10% less than Air Niugini and the
aircraft has low operating costs same as the current Dash 8 fleet we have, we
are just increasing the seats while the tickets remain the same price”. Paul
said
What a day for the People of Papua New Guinea with cheaper
seats and travel to be fast and efficient It will bring PNG Air and its shareholders
much delight after sticking with their plans and believing in their decisions
of putting rural PNG and its people as a
priority.
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