The flag carrier of Papua New Guinea, Air Niugini, has reconfirmed its plans to resume flights from Port Moresby to Auckland, connecting the two cities after almost three decades. The services will be offered three times a week, onboard the airline’s Boeing 737-800. The route is expected to be popular with seasonal workers, who make up almost a third of all travel between the two countries.

According to Stuff, Air Niugini confirmed that this coming November, the airline will resume its nonstop service between Port Moresby Jacksons International Airport (POM) and Auckland Airport (AKL), becoming the only airline to connect the two cities with a direct flight. The route will be a historic return, given that the two countries have had no nonstop flights between them since 1998.

Three Times A Week From Port Moresby To Auckland

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The flights to Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, will run three times a week and depart from Port Moresby on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. This will see the aircraft remain in Auckland overnight, before returning to the capital of Papua New Guinea on a Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. The flights are timed to connect to the wider Air Niugini domestic and international network.

Air Niugini had previously announced that it was looking to resume this service in July this year; however, several adjustments saw this pushed back to September, and now to November. The route is still unavailable to book on the airline’s website, with Auckland not even showing on the airline’s route map.

The services are set to resume on November 19 at the earliest, well-timed for peak seasonal worker timetables, where thousands of Papua New Guineans come to New Zealand for the horticulture and viticulture industries, performing tasks such as picking, packing, planting, and pruning.

Reconnecting Port Moresby And Auckland After a Three-Decade Absence

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According to AeroRoutes, Air Niugini will resume flying to Auckland on Thursday, November 19, and has a scheduled departure time from Port Moresby late morning. The expected outbound flight time is four hours and 40 minutes and covers a distance of 2,563 miles (4,125 km).

Return flights will depart from Auckland the following morning for a five-hour nonstop flight back to Port Moresby. The aircraft will arrive back at Jackson International Airport at lunchtime, connecting easily to the airline’s domestic and international network. Air travel is vital for connectivity in Papua New Guinea due to the nation’s mountainous terrain and lack of road infrastructure. The flight schedule for the service to Auckland is detailed below:

While the service will initially be operated by the Boeing 737-800, the airline is set to replace this aircraft with the modern Airbus A220-300 later next year.

Air Niugini Fleet Details

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Air Niugini is based at Jackson International Airport, the primary gateway to Papua New Guinea. The airport services major domestic airports across the country and has international services to destinations across Asia, Oceania, and Australia. The name Nuigini is the Tok Pisin word for New Guinea.

According to ch-aviation, the airline has a fleet of 18 active aircraft, comprising three 737-800, two 767-300, two A220-300, one Dash 8-300, three Dash 8-400, two Fokker 100, and two Fokker 70. The airline did have an order for the Boeing 787-8, set to replace its aging 767s; however, this historic order was canceled in February this year.

From Australia, and soon to be New Zealand, Air Niugini tries to position itself as an alternative airline with cheaper international in-direct itineraries via Port Moresby. With the airline’s presence at Brisbane, Cairns, Sydney and soon-to-be Auckland, it schedules flights to connect easily from POM to international destinations like Narita Airport (resuming July 18), Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) and Manila .