Papua New Guinea received its newest Airbus aircraft last month, as the country’s carrier, Air Niugini, took delivery of an Airbus A220 aircraft. However, considering the aircraft was manufactured in Canada and the airline is based in the South Pacific Ocean, the delivery flight was much longer than the average delivery flight.
In fact, the total journey time was measured to be four days. This marks the first of nearly a dozen A220s that are destined to join the airline’s fleet, consisting mostly of narrowbody aircraft and a pair of widebody long-haul aircraft.
Four Flight Legs, Three Stops, Mirabel To Port Moresby
Last month, Papua New Guinea-based carrier Air Niugini took delivery of the newest member of its fleet, the Airbus A220-300. While the first delivery of a new aircraft type to an airline’s fleet is always special, this occasion was all the more special, as the delivery took four days. While the airline received the aircraft on September 15, its journey from Canada started on September 11.
Data from FlightRadar24 shows that the aircraft set off from Mirabel International Airport in Montreal at 17:45 local time (LT) on September 11 and flew west for nearly 5 hours, arriving at Vancouver Airport (YVR) at 19:53 LT. The westbound journey continued the following morning at 08:55 LT, and the aircraft flew nearly six hours across the Pacific Ocean to Honolulu (HNL), Hawaii, where, after a brief stopover, the aircraft continued for over six hours to Nadi (NAN), Fiji, where it arrived at 18:16 LT on September 13.
The following morning, the aircraft flew its final leg of its delivery journey, touching down at Port Moresby Jacksons International Airport at 10:30 LT on September 15. While the overall flight time added up to 23 hours and 14 minutes across the four flights, covering over 16,500 km in distance, the night spent in Vancouver and Nadi, along with the westward crossing of the International Date Line, resulted in the total journey adding up to four days.
One Delivered, 10 More To Arrive!
The aircraft that has entered Air Niugini’s fleet is the first of 11 aircraft that the carrier has on order. The airline initially placed an order for six of the smaller Airbus A220-100 aircraft in 2023, to which a further two were added earlier this year. The carrier had also signed lease agreements on three of the larger A220-300 models from the US-based lessor, Azorra, of which the first has been delivered.
Upon receiving their first aircraft, Air Niugini has now become the 25th customer of the A220 program. As per the airline’s press release and data from ch-aviation, the carrier has chosen to configure both variants of the A220 with Economy and Business Cabins.
|
Aircraft |
A220-100 |
A220-300 |
|---|---|---|
|
Business Capacity |
8 |
8 |
|
Economy Capacity |
105 |
130 |
|
Total Capacity |
113 |
138 |
|
Operational Range* |
6,700 km |
6,300 km |
*Based on aircraft technical data from Airbus. The actual range will vary depending on the airline and configuration.
In an Airbus press release earlier this year, Air Niugini’s CEO, Gary Seddon, stated,
“The A220 is set to form the backbone of our domestic and regional fleet and will support economic development in Papua New Guinea.”
Replacing The Older Aircraft
Currently, the airline has a mixed fleet of varying aircraft, which consists of Boeing 737-800s on the narrowbody side, a pair of Boeing 767-300ER aircraft on the widebody side, and several smaller regional aircraft, including the Bombardier Dash 8-400, Fokker 100, and Fokker 70 aircraft. A portion of the airline’s fleet is currently inactive.
However, with the larger A220s set to join the fleet in the future, the airline can phase out the older aircraft and utilize the A220s, which are not only suitable for domestic and regional short-haul flights, but they are also efficient and modern, offering the carrier with better economics, more capacity, operational flexibility, while simultaneously offering a better flight experience for the passengers.
Apart from the A220s, the carrier also has two Boeing 787-8 aircraft on order, which are set to replace the airline’s Boeing 767s, which will improve the carrier’s widebody, long-haul operations. The Dreamliners from 
Boeing will provide the airline with improved operational efficiency, increased range and capacity (depending on configuration), and provide the passengers with a more comfortable in-flight experience.
