Air Niugini - Bird of paradise paint schemes are back again
 

Leased Boeing B737-800 has arrived with full fuselage 'Bird of Paradise' paint scheme. Just like the old days!

And in true PX fashion it went bugarup on its maiden flight out of Singapore, entering the hold immediately after takeoff! An A+ for consistency at least.

Seven days sitting on the ground in Port Moresby.
Rather an expensive exercise, for a leased aircraft.

If the situation re the 737 unfolds in typical PNG fashion it won't take long for it to become a permanent fixture rather than a functional aircraft. Perhaps it will end up replacing the DC3 at Airways...

Aircraft leasing companies must be vying for PX's business at this point, seizing the chance to offload a non-performing asset while still receiving full payment - brilliant.

Alternatively, it could be that they have done their DD and concluded that PX will probably welch on their payments regardless, prompting them to let go of the underperforming asset 💁🏻‍♂️

The retro livery is remarkably amusing in this context as they are providing an authentic experience of 80’s style airline operations 😂

TANGFU!

Financial brilliance on PX's part. SIgn up to per hour lease, then not fly it! Got the aeroplane for free!

it appears that this financial brilliance isn't limited to just dormant aircraft leases too.

https://www.postcourier.com.pg/airli...harges-to-nac/

14 days and counting. Not a good look for Air Niugini.
Very expensive grounding ?

Traffic believes that this particular detail illustrates PX's financial acumen in today's economic landscape. However, I remain unconvinced.

Spiv-deal gone wrong I feel is more accurate AKA TANGFU.

​​​​​​​What about Momote? And PX were operating the B737 to Hagen and Gurney as well.

I wish some people would put a sock in it and stop criticising about things they know nothing about. Maybe they don't have enough pilots.

😂😂😂😂😂😂

That’s what you get when you are the lowest paid 737 operator in the region.

Moreover, who would consider leasing an aircraft without first ensuring they have crew for it?

TANGFU

The recently delivered B738, has not flown since 6th December ......
No flight crew?
Maintenance?
Lemon?

Which politician or public servant "benefited" from this deal?

All of the above, in addition to something typically PX like; it came with a full tank of gas for free from the owner but then they forgot to budget for the fuel costs after that.

Operation face saving has been in full force from the moment it went tech on its maiden flight, to not having anyone to fly it, and when it did finally get airborne, NOGOT EDTO approval!

Now the final straw is that it has non-approved engine parts in both donks, rendering it (as someone has suggested before) as useful as the airways DC3 💁🏻‍♂️

But, the show MUST go on! And as such, we are all eagerly awaiting the next episode of the muppets show.

Virgin Australia go caught out on the unapproved engine parts. I think a few weeks ago the media was suggesting as many as eight aircraft or more were affected.

How the machine ever left Singapore without all the approvals in place is farcical at best. Perhaps CASA PNG did not receive their share of the 'booty'

Of course this is PNG's proud International airline. One problem is they used to have a magnificent fleet of Dash 8-400 aircraft, until a politicians decided PX was to become an all jet operator. Spin off the Dash 8-200/300 fleet to a subsidiary and rename it Link PNG. Then of course they realise after the -400 fleet had gone ... we made a mistake; so they started to buy the -400's back. Three in country, only one presently flyable. Bought a bunch more last month but decided they were not up to PX standards. That by the way is yuk speak meaning the broker/seller was not willing to 'pay' incentives to those with their snouts in the trough.

Things at PX only go from bad to worse ......

Bad enough their "new" Boeing 738 is grounded with dud engine parts. Ukraine registered B738 UR-SQO now flying for PX on a temporary basis ....

Son, Skyup Ukrainian girls frolicking pool side at Gateway is an improvement to the current wildlife.

Brilliant! Tell them about the the new Ukrainian Restaurant in Brissie and you're in their good books, also I'll join you. :D
https://www.ukrainianclub.com.au/menu

I thought Omni Air International was doing charters for PX?

PNG is going from bad to really really worse, PNG got independence way too soon, without a proper transition period. Thank you Gough! Forget about the balus, the whole place buggerup. Em no gut.

It was a shambles back in the early 90's when I was there and I still wonder just how it has kept going since then!

Suspect that $350 million+ of Aussie taxpayers money funnelled into PNG every year just continues to keep the shambles going on....:mad:

BTW; Anyone have any further info on whatever happened to all the Maseratis?:ugh: Last I heard only about one third of them had ever been accounted for.

There must be some flash Boi Hauses around somewhere!:}

I'm fairly certain all the Mazza's were accounted for and located in a warehouse in POM. The story is that the 'guards' removed all the batteries for the usual reasons and all the diesel was drained for stoves and lamps. They were turbo diesel engines and interestingly the vehicles did not comply with Australian regs; rendering exporting to AU unlikely.

PX has made some bad choices of late. Treatment of expat flight crew and engineers aside, the Airbus A220 (nee Bombardier C series) is not the answer for PNG. The country is suited to high wing turbo props and fuselage mounted engines (Fokker etc). Whilst there are a few runways capable of taking the B737 when the runway is not under repair and breaking up, at present I think only POM, Momote and Nadzab/Lae are suitable. Flying the A220 into shorter domestic aerodromes is never guaranteed due to the very low slung engines. Tarmac failures are a feature of PNG, poor repairs, graft and corruption leads to poor rebuilding of runways.

After the A220 is introduced, I'm thinking ingestion of a ground staff member may be on the cards.

fuselage design and engine location aside, the A223, having the highest ACN of 47.4 for ultra low strength flexible pavements, would require a PCN equal to or greater than this for unrestricted ops. I would hazard a guess that places like AYVN, AYWK, AYBK, AYGA wouldn’t come close to it.

I don’t recall PX having dedicated performance engineers, or even a technical department, to analyse such things. Although, things may have changed since my time or (more likely) not…

I believe "The Gardner" purchased the Maserati's through an intermediary company in Sri Lanka (?). I recall seeing the invoice posted on Facebook I think it was.

They do not have Australian ADR Compliance thus can not be registered in Australia but could be registered in most countries world wide. I heard they were stored in a locked and secure shed near the main wharf in Port Moresby. By now they are probably close to worthless.

That they are not sold indicates someone very high up probably has a longer term "plan" in mind?

I spent a good part of my life in PNG. When I left PNG the Kina was worth Aus$1.35 - today a Kina is worth Aus$0.39. Sad to see it is dysfunctional and close to being a failed state.

Published data (may have been update?)

Jacksons POM PCN 70
Nadzab PCN 50
Mt Hagen PCN 50
Wewak PCN 40
Madang PCN 40
Gurney PCN 30
Buka PCN 30
Goroka PCN 35
Rabaul/Tokua PCN 30
Komo PCN 40
Hoskins PCN 30
Kavieng PCN 56

Info gained from December 2023 NOSUM's and Published AIP's (maybe updated)

Then it’s another TANGFU.The lighter -100 model still requires a PCN of 31.4, provided that it's operating on high strength flexible subgrade pavement, as indicated by F/A/X/X. To meet the suitable airport standards for airports like Hoskins, Gurney, Tokua, and Buka, the aircraft would need to function at weights in the range of low 50's or high 40's tonnes area, which is almost comparable to the empty weight of the 220 model.

TBL,

Yes, you are correct but there is an over riding factor in play ...

PNG is the "land of the unexpected"

Politicians will put pressure on those in power and concessions will be issued. Problem goes away until we have FOD damage and the manufacturers refuse to entertain warranty claims. The A220- 100/200/300 series will become nightmare.