Air Niugini (PX, Port Moresby) Managing Director Allan Milne has said he has nothing to fear from an investigation to be carried out by Papua New Guinea's Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) on the reportedly high cost of fares in the country.

Milne said it was a difficult market and the investigation, which will be completed by the end of October, would help people better understand why prices are what they are, the Post-Courier newspaper reported.

"We've actually had a lot of fruitful conversations with the ICCC commissioner about how the ticketing structure and price structure are there. I can tell you that for every [Papua New Guinean] kina you spend on a ticket [...] less than PGK0.20 comes to Air Niugini as a contribution, and it is made up of fees and taxes and the expense of having fuel delivered in this area," he explained.

For this reason, the flag carrier has "nothing to hide" from the review, he said.

Win Bakri Daki, vice minister for the Treasury, announced the ICCC investigation into the aviation industry in early September after a wave of public complaints in the country's media and social media about the increasingly high cost of airfares. ICCC Commissioner Paulus Ain appealed to the relevant authorities to assist the commission in establishing the cause of the increases.