Cool: Air Niugini Orders Two Boeing 787-8s

I have a friend who chooses them over QF when flying BNE-POM! Their service is island great…
I was there in March and certainly appreciated my local hosts. I felt safe with them but probably wouldn’t travel solo

Unfortunately, you can't redeem Qantas points to fly Air Niugini any more. That partnership ended almost 3 years ago - https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/qantas-ends-air-niugini-partnership/

These will be cool planes to fly on, though!

Personally, I would stick to Singapore, but PNG is incredible and well worth a visit. PM is not the safest, but as long as you aren't out at night it's fine. A friend just stayed at a Marriott property there and said they had guards but it felt like overkill. The rest of the country is incredible, especially if you're into wildlife and snorkeling/diving.

I would love to hear about your experience spending a night in PNG!

Please make this a review! Love the obscure stuff since nobody else does it (MIAT, TAAG…)

If you go to PNG stay at least a night at the Hilton... afaik it's the only higher-end points hotel in the city and there aren't many reviews out there about it

Port Moresby certainly isn’t the safest place but it’s certainly not impossible! You could spend a night at the real nice Airways Hotel right by Jackson International Airport, which has a pool and restaurant overlooking the runway. Used to go often when I was a kid growing up there. Port Moresby downtown itself doesn’t really warrant a visit, but just a drive around town would be interesting (hotel could probably arrange). Oh and the Parliament Haus is cool. Unfortunately Moresby isn’t amongst the most picturesque parts of PNG - you’d need to get the Highlands and the islands for that (as noted by others).

I don't think, I would want to fly with them since they missed runaway in Chuuk. I saw that particular plane not long before it ended up in the ocean and always remembered about it when landing at Chuuk.

I always have to LOL when i hear or read from US Americans "I’ve heard that Port Moresby actually isn’t safe to visit" or "overpriced" . . . when talking about places outside of the USA
🙂 🙂 🙂

Globetrotters with such an attitude give me goosebumps, they travel to Las Vegas, San Francisco or Miami which al ALL overpriced, thinking of any risk of being NOT "safe", but going to Memphis, Chicago, Washington, St. Louis or Las Vegas . . . i think, even Johannesburg is safe compared to those places.
You guys make me laugh a lot.
Coming from a country, where your next door neighbor might just greet you with a gun on your forehead, because it's legal.
LOL

I think PNG is going to become more and more relevant in American circles in the coming years. They signed a defense pact with the US just a few weeks ago, and PNG seems to be leaning in to linking up with the West. A review of you flying Air Niugini, I believe, could be useful for many.

Air Nuigini flies from Brisbane to Palau nonstop. You can fly that route and never stop in PNG at all.

We do a massive amount of PX (Air Niugini) bookings. I feel like 1/3 of the expat/missionary community working in PNG buys through us. Word of mouth has been insane as it's a tight-knit expat community.

Right now PX, QF, and PR are the only three options to/from POM. PX is insanely expensive on its own. I would love if a few other airlines would throw their hat in the ring. Fortunately PX has interline agreements with QF, QR, and EK which is how we get the majority of folks to/from.

PR has been incredibly unreliable, regularly canceling their LAX flight or else they would be a fantastically direct option.

Flew with then around 12 y.ago within Png and from Png to Sin. The flight attendant announcement was like she was either high or drunk and that irritated passenger next to me to the point of comolaint. Png is an amazing country worth of visit.

The US State Department has set the travel advisory level to 3 for Papua New Guinea: Reconsider travel to Papua New Guinea due to crime, civil unrest, and piracy.

Amazing little airline. My old man worked for them for years and if you get a chance to fly them, do it. They're not going to win (or pay for) any Skytrax awards anytime soon but there's always amazing, friendly service, plenty of booze and an island vibe. I'll be interested to see what the pointy end looks like because while 2-1-2 is fun, the novely can wear off pretty quickly!

Also, Port Moresby and Mt Hagen are the only places you want to avoid. Give Madang, Rabaul, Alotau and Kavieng a crack. Friendliest people in the world and absolute paradise. Transfers should be available same day of arrival. If not, book a night at Airways and have a beer overlooking the airport with views down to the beach.

Port Moresby isn't that bad. Like others have said - Airways Hotel is fine. If you go, I highly recommend Rabaul: volcanoes, great diving, and a world class mask festival in July with tribes performing from all over PNG and the Solomon Islands. I found the people of PNG to be warm and welcoming. I would go back in a heartbeat. Also PX airlines is an interesting airline to fly. When checking in for flight to Rabaul, I saw people with luggage made of palm fronds.

Ben, If you're that keen to catch PX's 767 and F100 combo before the 767S are retired, then here's a itinerary that I occasionally used. Catch the redeye from SIN to POM (767) which is about 5 times weekly arrives around 5am local time, then go into the transit lounge after passing a quick and breezy immigration (it's perfectly fine for a few hours) and catch the daily 9am (F100) POM to CNS.

I’ve shifted here 6months ago from Australia for work and flown PX probably 6 times including just yesterday from Port Moresby to Lae (second largest city). Incredibly exciting place to live. Yes, you need to be thoughtful about where you go but there is some amazing diving and snorkelling. Many WW2 Japanese and American wrecks, and yes definitely coming on the radar this part of the world for lots of reasons! Great climate.