Air Niugini has commenced a focused customer experience improvement program as part of its ongoing commitment to service transformation and strengthening service standards across the airline.
The initial workshop, held last Friday (23rd January) in Port Moresby, brought together employees from across the business to align on how Air Niugini can deliver a more consistent and supportive experience for customers across the full journey — from booking and check-in to boarding, inflight service and baggage handling.
The airline acknowledged that the recent festive period was one of the most challenging operational periods in recent years, with flight disruptions causing inconvenience for many customers. Air Niugini recognizes the impact this had on our passengers or guests and staff alike and accepts the need to strengthen how service is delivered, particularly during periods of disruption.
These experiences have reinforced the importance of improving how the airline communicates with customers, supports frontline teams, and applies clearer systems and processes to manage disruption more effectively.
The current customer experience improvement work is focused on ensuring our guests are treated with care, kept informed, and supported consistently across the network.
As part of its service transformation journey, Air Niugini recently completed an independent international service quality audit in November last year by Skytrax, an internationally recognized organization that assesses airlines worldwide based on how customers experience their service across the full travel journey.
The audit provided a clear and objective view of how customers experience Air Niugini and have given the airline clear guidance on where improvements are needed to strengthen service delivery.
Air Niugini’s Officer in Charge, Captain Samiu Taufa, said this year represents an important opportunity to reset expectations and move the airline forward.
“This year is about changing the narrative and moving Air Niugini forward. We are committed to service transformation and to empowering our people at all levels to serve with passion, discipline and empathy.”
“Our customers deserve more than simply purchasing a ticket — they deserve to experience the warmth, care and respect that reflect who we are as Papua New Guineans and how we take care of people.”
“We know there are areas where we must improve, particularly in how customers experience our service from booking through to arrival, and we ask for the continued support of our valued passengers as we strengthen our systems, our people and the way we serve,” Captain Taufa said.
The workshop was led by Air Niugini’s Manager Service Standards, Mr. Joeli Qereqeretabua, from the Commercial Division’s Customer Experience team, who is overseeing the airline’s service transformation program. In his role as Lead Project Officer, he guided teams through the service improvement framework and the priority improvement areas identified to strengthen how customers are served across the network.
“Customer experience is shaped by many interactions across the journey. This workshop allowed teams to reflect on current practices and identify improvements that will help deliver a more consistent and supportive experience for our passengers or guests,” Mr. Qereqeretabua said.
Participants were organized into cross-functional workstreams, recognizing that customer experience is a shared responsibility across the airline, including customer service, ground operations, cabin services, engineering, catering, marketing, information technology, human resources, training and others.
While the introduction of new Airbus A220 aircraft will enhance comfort and reliability, Air Niugini recognizes that a high-quality customer experience is delivered through people, communication and consistency. As part of this program, the airline is strengthening service capability, empowering employees, and improving coordination across teams to deliver a more seamless passenger experience, particularly when customers require assistance.
Customers can expect progressive improvements as these initiatives are implemented.
As Papua New Guinea’s national airline, Air Niugini remains committed to representing the country with pride while delivering a safe, reliable and increasingly customer-focused travel experience.
