Air Niugini (PX, Port Moresby) has altered its contract with Boeing to delay delivery of four B737-8s it has on order until at least 2024, the airline’s chief executive, Alan Milne, told Reuters on January 21.

The Papua New Guinea carrier had been scheduled to take its first MAX this year, but Milne said the delay would give it more time to complete a broad assessment of its fleeting plans. The fleet review also includes the likely replacement of its Fokker Aircraft.

“This will then determine if the MAX is still appropriate for Air Niugini or whether another Boeing product would better suit as a replacement for the B737/767,” he said referring to the airline’s older models.

If Boeing’s attempt to buy Embraer’s commercial division closes, the B737 MAX 8 order may be switched altogether to the E195-E2 family, Milne said. The American and Brazilian manufacturers had hoped to close their tie-up early in 2020, but although the United States and China have approved the deal and Brazil is expected to this month, European Union merger watchdogs this week demanded more information from Boeing and Embraer, according to Bloomberg.

A Boeing spokesman told Reuters that “Air Niugini is a valued Boeing customer and we are working closely with the airline to meet its evolving fleet requirements. Unfortunately, we do not disclose ongoing customer discussions and have no further comment.”

As previously reported, other Boeing customers such as Norwegian Air International, Virgin Australia and, most recently, Malaysia Airlines, have also postponed the delivery of MAX jets since the model was grounded around the world in March 2019. Boeing confirmed on January 20 that it had temporarily halted production on the aircraft type.

Earlier this month, Air Niugini said it was set to resume Dash 8-400 operations after an almost three-year hiatus, with two of the turboprops due to be delivered to the carrier shortly. Both will operate for its Link PNG unit, the unit's general manager Bruce Alabaster has confirmed to ch-aviation.

According to the ch-aviation fleets module, the carrier's current fleet includes one 21.3-year-old B737-700, one 16.2-year-old B737-800, two B767-300(ER)s averaging 24.3 years old, seven Fokker 100s (average age 27.2), and seven Fokker 70s (average age 23.9). Its subsidiary, Link PNG (Port Moresby), operates five Dash 8-300s and three Dash 8-200s, all of which have an average age of 23.9.