Air Niugini Limited is the flag carrier of Papua New Guinea, based in Air Niugini House on the site of Port Moresby International Airport, Port Moresby."Privacy Policy ." Air Nuigini. Retrieved on 3 February 2011. "Air Niugini House Port Moresby, National Capital District Jackson’s Airport" It operates a domestic network from Port Moresby to 12 major airports while its subsidiary company, Link PNG, operates routes to minor airports. It also operates international services in Asia, Oceania, and Australia on a weekly basis. Its main base is Port Moresby International Airport, which is located in 7 Mile, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.Flight International 27 March 2007 Niugini is the Tok Pisin word for New Guinea.
History
The airline was established in November 1973 as the national airline of Papua New Guinea with the government holding 60% of the shares, with the rest divided between Australian airline companies Ansett (16%), Qantas (12%) and Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) (12%). It started as an exclusively domestic carrier, but soon expanded to offer international services. In founding the airline, the government aimed to encourage regional development in a country without an extensive road network. The airline was established using DC-3 and Fokker F27 aircraft.
International services commenced very early on in the history of the airline with a leased Boeing 720 from 6 February 1976 to 2 February 1977. This was later replaced with a Boeing 707 purchased from Qantas. During the late 1970s, internal services were performed by a combination of Fokker F28 jet and Fokker F27 turbo-prop aircraft. By the end of 1975 Air Niugini leased Boeing 727-200 type aircraft from Ansett and TAA to serve routes to Brisbane.ANG History , AirNiugini.com The airline also acquired a lease of a Boeing 707 from Qantas to commence a weekly service to Manila and Hong Kong. In 1976, the government bought out the Qantas and TAA holdings and in 1980 acquired the Ansett shares to make the airline wholly government owned. The fleet of F-27s was phased out in the early 1980s with the introduction of the newly developed De Havilland Canada Dash 7 four-engine turbo-prop.
In 1979, Air Niugini opened routes to Honolulu and to Singapore via Jakarta. That same year, new facilities were opened at Jacksons Airport and new Sales Offices opened in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Europe and the United States.International Growth , AirNiugini.com Air Niugini operated their Boeing 707 from Auckland to Hong Kong via Port Moresby in a tripartite agreement with Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific. This service ran from 1981 to 1985.
In 1984, the airline replaced the two Boeing 707 aircraft with an Airbus A300 on lease from TAA. This was replaced several years later with two Airbus A310s as the carrier expanded to offer flights principally between Australian Eastern capital cities and destinations in Asia such as Singapore and Manila via their hub at Port Moresby.
The airline endured considerable hardships in the 1990s, with unrest in Bougainville and a volcanic eruption in Rabaul destabilising the company's busiest domestic services. The Asian currency crisis also made an impact, with Air Niugini posting financial losses during this decade. The government of Papua New Guinea responded by cutting jobs from the airline, suppressing wages, as well as opening offices in Asia and Europe in an attempt at having the airline run profitably. The reforms bore fruit by 2003, with the airline posting a profit of US$15.8 million for that year.
A Boeing 767 was acquired in August 2002, replacing the Airbus aircraft, and was used to offer expanded international services. Combined with aggressive pricing, this made it the most competitively priced airline on many of its routes. A sharing agreement still exists with Qantas in which that airline buys "blocks" of seats on Air Niugini's flights between Port Moresby and Australia.
The financial turnaround seems to have stymied pressure from various sectors, including the IMF and the Australian Government, to privatise the national carrier. The PNG government has voiced concerns that privatisation would jeopardise domestic routes that provide a vital service to regional people and encourage economic development, but which fail to realise a profit.
From September 2004, Fokker 100s have been introduced to start to replace the aging Fokker F28 aircraft that are used on domestic routes, the daily Cairns service, and the twice a week service to Honiara in the Solomon Islands.
In March 2006, Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Don Polye announced an open air policy, which would allow other airlines to fly international routes into and from Papua New Guinea. The policy will take effect in 2007.Pacific Magazine
In December 2007, Air Niugini returned its leased Boeing 767 aircraft to its owners, Air New Zealand. The airline briefly entered a wet lease arrangement with Viva Macau before taking up a lease with Icelandair for a Boeing 767-300ER and a Boeing 757-200W. The 757 was returned in March 2011 and replaced with two additional 767-300ER aircraft.
On 18 April 2008, flights commenced on the Sydney-Port Moresby route initially using leased Embraer 190 aircraft leased from SkyAirWorld of Australia.
On 15 October 2014, Air Niugini announced a wholly owned subsidiary airline company, Link PNG, which commenced operations on 1 November 2014 to coincide with Air Niugini's 41 years of operation. Link PNG principally services routes to provincial and district centres which were being operated by the Air Niugini Dash-8-Q200 and Q300 aircraft. 7 Fokker-70 aircraft were acquired (October 2015) from KLM and were transferred during Oct-Dec 2015.
In June 2018, people rioting in the town of Mendi following disputed election results destroyed a Link PNG Dash-8 at the town's airport.
On 14 June 2019, Air Niugini announced it would take over the Cairns-Hong Kong route that Cathay Pacific was abandoning. They would fly via Port Moresby hoping to have considerable income derived from transporting live seafood to Asian markets.
In July 2023, Air Niugini announced the order of two Boeing 787-8 as replacements for their pair of aging 767-300ER. The airline ordered six Airbus A220-100s in November 2023, with a further two A220-100s and three A220-300s to be leased. The Airbus A220s will replace Air Niugini's Fokker 70s and Fokker 100s. A SkyUp Airlines Boeing 737 was acquired under a wet lease in 2023.
On the 11 September 2025, Air Niugini took delivery of the airline's first Airbus A220-300, on lease from Azorra Aviation, registered P2-PGA. Dubbed "People's Balus", the aircraft was painted in a special scheme to commemorate 50 years of Papuan independence.
On 18 February 2026, Air Niugini cancelled its order for two Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners which were to replace its the two Boeing 767-300ERs.
Destinations Air Niugini operates to 22 domestic destinations and ten international destinations in six countries across Asia and Oceania as of August 2026:
CountryCityAirportNotesRefsAustraliaBrisbaneBrisbane Airport CairnsCairns Airport SydneySydney Airport TownsvilleTownsville AirportFijiNadiNadi International Airport Hong KongHong KongHong Kong International Airport IndonesiaDenpasarNgurah Rai International AirportJakartaJakarta AirportJapanTokyoNarita International AirportNew ZealandAucklandAuckland AirportPapua New GuineaAlotauGurney Airport BukaBuka Airport DaruDaru Airport GorokaGoroka Airport HoskinsHoskins Airport KaviengKavieng Airport KundiawaCimbu Airport KiungaKiunga Airport LaeLae Nadzab Airport LihirLihir Island Airport LorengauLorengau Airport MadangMadang Airport Mount HagenMount Hagen Airport PopondettaPopondetta Airport Port MoresbyPort Moresby International AirportRabaulRabaul Airport TabubilTabubil Airport TariTari Airport TufiTufi Airport VanimoVanimo Airport WapenamandaWapenamanda Airport WewakWewak Airport PhilippinesCebuMactan–Cebu International AirportManilaNinoy Aquino International Airport SingaporeSingaporeChangi Airport Solomon IslandsHoniaraHoniara International Airport United StatesHonoluluHonolulu International AirportVanuatuPort VilaBauerfield International Airport
Codeshare agreements Air Niugini has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:
Cathay Pacific Qantas Solomon Airlines
Fleet
Current fleet , the Air Niugini fleet consists of the following aircraft:
+ Air Niugini fleetAircraftIn serviceOrdersPassengersNotesJYTotalAirbus A220-100—8TBA114Deliveries began in September 2025.To replace aging Fokker aircraft.Airbus A220-300 -38130138Boeing 737-8003—20138158Boeing 767-300ER2—281671951 leased from Icelandair.Fokker 704—86573To be retired and replaced by Airbus A220.Fokker 1004—8931011 ——50504——7676Total218
In January 2026, Air Niugini canceled its order for two 787s.
Current Link PNG fleet , the Link PNG fleet consists of the following aircraft:
+ Link PNG fleetAircraftIn fleetOrdersPassengersNotesBombardier Dash 8-2006—30Total6—
Former fleet + Air Niugini retired fleetAircraftTotalIntroducedRetiredNotesAirbus A300B4319841989Leased.Airbus A310-3003198920081 leased from White Portugal.Boeing 7073197719851 leased 3 times.Boeing 720B119761977Boeing 737-200119891990Leased from TEA UK.Boeing 737-700120122021Partially scrapped.Boeing 757-200420082014Leased from Icelandair.De Havilland Canada Dash 7319811992P2-ANP written off in 1992.
Aircraft that have limited info: Douglas DC-3 Douglas C-47 Fokker F27 Fokker F28
Incidents and accidents
On the morning of 28 September 2018, Flight PX 73 (operated by Boeing 737-800 P2-PXE) landed short of the runway into a lagoon off Chuuk International Airport in Weno, Chuuk of the Federated States of Micronesia. There were 47 people on board the aircraft (36 passengers and 11 crew). According to initial reports, all 47 survived, and there were no serious injuries. However, shortly after the crash, the airline reported one missing passenger. On Monday, 1 October, two days after the crash, Air Niugini announced the death of a single male passenger.
See also List of airlines of Papua New Guinea
References
Further reading Plath D.-Hartung G., Air Niugini, Air Niugini editor, Port Moresby, 1989
External links
Official website