The Mt Hagen Kamauga Airport's main runway is now undertaking remedial works to fix defects identified by the National Airports Corporation along certain portions of the runway. National Airports Corporation Acting Managing Director/CEO Joseph Tupiri said the reworks on the runway started early October last year, but work was put on hold to cater for the busy period. He said the defects cover certain portions along the 800m stretch of the main runway. “Reworks on a total of 300 meters of the total length of the runway was completed in December 2022.” Tupiri said work resumed on the remaining 500m in January this year and is progressing as planned and next week, works are scheduled to be carried out on the critical portion of the runway. Due to this operation, only smaller aircrafts such as the Fokker 70’s to Dash 8’s have been allowed to use the runway. The Overall work is set to be completed by 30th of April this year. But even though the repair works do not incur any cost to the government or the NAC as it is being attended to under the Defects Liability Period. “It must be noted that the contractor is still owed significant amounts of money by the Government of PNG component of its invoices for completed works as well. NAC is working closely with all the aviation stakeholders to ensure works are completed on time and in accordance with the NAC’s quality standards.” He added that whilst NAC regrets that the rework affects the air traffic in and out of Mt Hagen Airport due to reduced capacity, the importance of maintaining the airport’s infrastructure to ensure safety and security of the travelling public and the airline operators in accordance with the PNG Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s Civil Aviation Rules and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practice.