APNG had a good arrangement with Our Airline operating 3 times a week for them. Good load factors, a high standard of service and great PNG presence in the form on national cabin crew for the many national passengers travelling.
Then APNG ditched Our Airline and did a deal with PB which, in hindsight, they must regret. APNG lost all identity - and as a consequence most of their national passengers. PNG'ns don't like to pay for food and drinks as extras, they like PNG staff attending to them and they like to support a national enterprise. This was all lost when the APNG identity was engulfed by the PB way of doing things. How do I know? I travelled on this service many times but do not do so now preferring PX such has been the lowering of standards (from a passenger perspective, that is).
Still, accountabilty is what life is all about and now APNG are being held accountable by way of dwindling loads but still having to shell out to PB for the service, no matter how badly it performs. PB of course don't mind - there could be zero passengers and they get paid - it's APNG who are reaping the "benefits" of their wisdom in dropping something that was obviously working at the time.
It's all deja-vue - my extensive travelling in the Pacific region has seen such "smart" decisions made time and time again, and usually with the same dismal results.