Today’s Cairns Post,
ANY requests by Air Niugini to start a direct freight and passenger service between Cairns and Hong Kong would be considered by Federal MP Warren Entsch.
Managing director Alan Milne said, while the airline currently stopped in Port Moresby on all its routes, determining a direct flight to Hong Kong from the Far North was not off the table.
“We can ask for rights to fly direct but because we’re not related to either Hong Kong or Australia, it would be more difficult ,” he said. “I think … you’d have to show it was in the national interest and the withdrawal of Cathay Pacific may well fall into that category.”
Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch said the Papua New Guinean airline’s bid “certainly came out of left field” , but he welcomed the move.
“We’d already said to Cathay Pacific, from a federal perspective anything they needed we would look at, but they weren’t interested,” he said.
“They’d obvious made a decision and were sticking to that. I’ve had no approach from Air Niugini but I’m certainly open to any request.
“I’m certainly part of a broader group which has committed to doing whatever we can to build capacity.
“It’s not just a matter of the Australian Government signing off and saying yes. Certainly that’s part of an approval process, but for Air Niugini to fly directly to Hong Kong, authorities there will have to give them access and also the PNG government has to make a decision. The Australian Government approval is part of a trifecta.”
Air Niugini is offering a freight and passenger service to Hong Kong via Port Moresby to replace Cathay Pacific which will end its direct flights to Hong Kong in October. Seafood exporters will be the most disadvantaged by the cancellation with frequent, direct flights to China critical to the industry.