Air Niugini (PX, Port Moresby) and PNG Air (CG, Port Moresby) have refused to relocate to the newly opened terminal at Goroka in central Papua New Guinea citing high rent, Radio New Zealand has reported. The government has, however, ordered both carriers to move to the new facility.
The new terminal cost USD25 million and opened in June 2018.
For the time being, both domestic carriers continue to operate out of the old terminal with the new building sitting idly. The airlines have argued that the monthly rent at the new facility, set at USD60,000, is too high for them.
Despite the complaints, Civil Aviation Minister Alfred Manase has ordered both Air Niugini and PNG Air to start using the new terminal by the end of July.
According to the ch-aviation capacity module, the carriers operate 14x weekly services to Port Moresby each. Air Niugini deploys own Fokker 70s and Dash 8-300 operated by subsidiary Link PNG on the route, while PNG Air uses Dash 8-100 and ATR72-600 equipment.
