The country’s national flag carrier, Air Niugini, has announced that there will be disruptions to their services to international and domestic flights, both passenger and cargo, due to technical issues and will not be risking the safety of their customers due to this. In a statement released today, Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Gary Seddon stated that Air Niugini operates aircraft to one of the highest standards of aviation and airworthiness in the world. “This is a very good safety benchmark to have. This means that we will not cut corners on our interim aircraft acquisition program.” “When we discovered that the Q400s that had been previously selected were not to standard, we cancelled the arrangements and went back to market. I will not risk our operations with aircraft that cannot be relied upon to improve our position.” Air Niugini was expecting to receive four Dash8-Q400 turboprop and two Boeing 737- 800 aircraft by September this year and is currently negotiating with aircraft vendors in North America and in the meantime has accelerated heavy maintenance programs on its existing fleet. “We hope to be able to add to our turboprop fleet in the very near future, but for now we are investing in engines and heavy maintenance to return our existing fleet to service.” Air Niugini has stated previously that due to its aging fleet, the airline often struggles to operate more than 55% of its aircraft (13 planes) on any given day. This is because there has been little investment in maintenance repair and overhaul over the past decade, and this retooling takes time and capital. “We have recruited more qualified staff and we have been stocking high turnover inventory. We are seeing some improvement in productivity. But the age of the fleet continues to hamper operations. We will not place profits and schedule ahead of safety, and an unserviceable aircraft will not be operated regardless of the cost and inconvenience of disruption.” Mr. Seddon said attracting more pilots and crew to operate additional aircraft has been challenging noting that there is a worldwide shortage of pilots because the most experienced are being attracted to larger operators around the region, who are paying very high rates and one-off joining bonuses. Air Niugini recently recommenced the pilot cadet training program and has received over 1, 500 applications from school leavers to licensed pilots looking to develop their career.