NO PX Flights to Mendi

By Ancilla Wrakuale

ALL Air Niugini flights in and out of Mendi Airport in the resource rich Southern Highlands Province has been suspended for two weeks as of Thursday.

Chief Executive Officer of Air Niugini, Mr Wasantha Kumarasiri made the announcement at a media conference in Port Moresby on Thursday. Mr Kumarasiri said the reason for the suspension was because of ongoing safety issues at the Mendi Airport.

Air Niugini makes three flights to Mendi in a week.

He said people used to walk on the runway and recently, Air Niugini pilots noticed large amount of broken bottles, shoes and some used family planning materials on the runway which was not good. He said the national airliner is very committed on maintaining the safety standards of the airline therefore they had no choice but to make the hard decision to suspend all flights to the Provincial Capital of Southern Highlands in Mendi.

Mr Kumarasiri said the National Airport Corporation (NAC) will carry out investigations at the airport and carry out immediate actions on fencing the airport.

He said the reason why he called the press conference yesterday was to appeal to the general public around the country where they are airports to take ownership of such public assets to allow for smooth flow of airline services.

“It is every citizen’s responsibility to protect those assets.

“We are responsible for the safety of the travelling public and Air Niugini has its own system of safety management and we have systems in place and we carry out our own inspection to ensure safety at all times”, he said.

“We put extra efforts in maintaining those facilities with additional costs to the airline.

He said when such things like that happen, they have to make new fences and employ more security at the airport, and “those are all additional costs”.

“At the end of the day, the travelling public will pay because the costs of these additional costs are transferred into airfares.

“Protect your asset so in that way, Air Niugini will deliver airline service,” Mr Kumarasiri said.

He said those passengers who have purchased their tickets will change their destination to the next closer airport where they can be able to go to Mendi.