Cairns international flights: Air Niugini resumes Port Moresby route

More widebody jets will be flying out of Cairns before Christmas as an airline resumes international flights to one of Australia’s neighbours.

AIR NIUGINI has unveiled plans to fly four special Boeing 767 wide-body jet flights from Cairns to Port Moresby between now and Christmas.

The tactical decision will allow Far North fresh produce and seafood exporters to get goods into Asia through connecting flights to both Hong Kong and Singapore.

However, there will also be the opportunity for passengers to book flights from Cairns to Port Moresby – as long as they have the right approvals in place.

The southbound return from Port Moresby to Cairns will be freight-only, allowing PNG exporters to shift their products into the Australian market.

The 767 flights will operate four times between now and Christmas. Picture: AAP Image

Flights into Cairns will not carry any passengers due to Queensland’s stringent Covid-19 border stance.

Airline CEO Bruce Alabaster said the flight PX-093 would operate on Wednesdays including October 6, November 3 and 24, and December 22.

“Air Niugini is the longest serving international airline to Cairns, having commenced services 46 years ago and we are pleased to be able to resume providing services to both PNG and Far North Queensland, albeit initially in a small way,” he said.

“We hope to be able to add more flights, and carry passengers southbound as well, as vaccination rates in Australia and PNG increase and border restrictions are gradually lifted.”

The first Air Niugini Boeing 767 wide body aircraft to depart Cairns for Hong Kong in 2019. Picture: PETER CARRUTHERS

Mr Alabaster said protocols for passengers departing PNG to international destinations were “probably the most stringent in the world” with all passengers required to undertake a PCR test – the gold standard in Covid-19 testing at the airport prior to check-in.

“Additionally, the entire international terminal is closed to the public, so once passengers have tested negative they remain in a sterile bubble,” he continued.

Regardless, it will be one-way traffic for now.

PNG on Friday announced all fully-vaccinated arriving passengers were no longer subject to mandatory quarantine.

They must simply take a 10-minute rapid Covid-19 test on arrival and are free to go if results return negative.

Other freight routes still flying intermittently from Cairns include a Qantas service to Tokyo on an Airbus A330, and a Singapore Airlines flight to Singapore using an Airbus A350 aircraft.

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Originally published as Cairns international flights: Air Niugini resumes Port Moresby route