Bougainville - self governing Autonomous region
 

https://postcourier.com.pg/new-day-dawns/

What happens next?

Will there be a new FIR boundary, new prefix to aircraft registered in Bougainville, another CASA to deal with?
International boundary, passport control?

A disaster looking for a place to occur. Another state reliant solely on foreign grants and loans. Think I saw the Bougainvilleans don't want to reopen the Panguna mine.

Wonder whether someone will restart Bougair, which was owned by the Provincial Government? They can buy more of these....and start a poultry and egg farm.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....aa0e108af3.jpg

Must be the only time it ever had two engines installed and both undercarriage legs attached.

Reports are that the good folk in Bougainville have been negotiating to repoen the mine., that would help pay for the place
With the right deal for them and the prospective miners it could be very lucrative for both.
Billions got ripped out of the place by others and environmental damage still remains
PNG may want to get shot of the place now that the rivers of kina stopped during the civil war and presumably there is some prop up from PNG now.
If they become a free standing country, I.d posit they would keep the NZ based reg suite as in PNG.
Best to leave CAsA well out of it, and make life easier for all.
Good on .em Nothing ventured .nothing gained.
If it all falls over Im sure Chine would be in there to help quick as a flash

Don't worry about China they're already there.

I notice on the charts the old airport at Kieta is not there any more.I have fond memories of the old pilot compound at Reboine,just off the side of the runway.Those were the days!!

Self governing, autonomous region means that they stay part of PNG but look after their own affairs on the island. Aircraft registration, passports, currency, dialing code etc remain as normal.

Which old Kieta airport? This is the airport that was at Kieta at least from 1969 when I first went there:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....50ffd6f755.jpg

There was a later airport built at Awara that Bougair and I think MAF used, still there, not sure whether it is serviceable?

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....48929d1112.jpg

Was there an earlier airport in the 1960s?

I remember Bougainville Copper flying their Merlin and then Westwind out of Townsville.

Found this little snippet.

I remember Darryl Mayfield operating the Merlin VH-BCL.....it always seemed to me that he was a bloody long way from anywhere when you'd hear him giving his enroute position reports on HF.

The Westwind used to bring in fresh strawberries for the staff mess! :}

Paul Quodling was BCL Managing Director. Paul passed away in 2017 at 90 years of age.

Darryl Mayfield. Photo of the man here.

Bougainville Copper Project

Went on to fly Esso's Merlin and made redundant when they swapped it for a Citation. Extremely keen squash player, driving home one day after a work out had a heart attack and car ran off the road into some ones front yard. Pass buying nurse quickly in attendance but proved to be fatal. Ashes spread over Darwin.

I met Darryl during one of my tours to Bougainville. I was employed by Nationawide Airservices as a LAME and replaced Ron Gaudry or Felix Mitchell when they went on leave.
Nationwide had the Operation and Maintenance contract for P2- BCL.
When I last saw Darryl, he and his wife Rosemary were anxiously awaiting the arrival of their first borne. This was in 1976.

Yes Tailwheel that is the Kieta airport I know.But it doesn’t appear on any charts any more.

Bougainville has been autonomous since the late 1990s. The recent referendum, which passed with more than 98% support, was for full independence from PNG.

Mates Rates, how peculiar? I was sure PX operated into Kieta in recent years?

The Wikipedia page only mentions Aropa Airport RW 14/32 1,645 meters, asphalt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aropa_Airport

However Google Maps indicates the previous Kieta Airport is now the "Aropa Airport" south of Kieta on the road to Buin.

You may be referring to what appears on Google maps as "Arawa Airport", in the middle of Awara township. It was originally very short, Twin Otter or Islander strip however the Provincial Government permitted only MAF and Bougair to operate. At one stage they hauled logs onto the strip to stop outsiders landing there.

From what I have read, ANG operated the Q400 into Kieta from the end of 2014 when the airport was recovered and rebuilt.

In 2019, the Q400 was due to be replaced by the F100. I assumed that happened, but there is a Notam current now stopping F100 ops
due to pavement issues.

There are no Kieta flights in the ANG Timetables.

Sounds like the airport may need more maintenance.

PS. The COVID issue may have also caused a shut down in flights.

From the ANG Website 5 months ago:

Updated Domestic Air Travel RequirementsApril 27, 2020

Flights to Buka and Kieta airports in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (ARoB) still require approval from the Bougainville SoE Controller.
Air Niugini is operating occasional flights to Buka, based on Bougainville SoE Controller approval,
but generally at present there is not any approval for uplift of passengers into Buka or Kieta.

5th Oct 2020


The controller of Covid, David Manning has lifted all restrictions on PNG Domestic travel, and advises new conditions for International Flights.
No seat limits to/from Cairns.
50 seat limit to/from Brisbane.
7 days quarantine upon arrival into PNG, who knows what back into Aus.
All flights via POM

The Kieta runway is in poor shape, but Q400 are using the airport, I think I saw a Fokker depart for there last week out of POM
No Jet fuel is the issue. Along with no publish IFR approaches
RAVEL RESTRICTIONS REMOVED

PX Press Release Air Niugini is pleased to announce that all restrictions on domestic air travel have been removed, and will be offering a range of sales to promote domestic tourism.

The SOE Controller has issued new Domestic and International Travel Measures on Saturday 3rd October providing the following directives;

• There are no limitations on any domestic travel.
• For international inbound travel, from Australia (excluding Victoria), New Zealand, and most of the Pacific Islands inbound passengers now only have to home-isolate for seven days. Where segregating at home is not possible inbound passengers still need to hotel quarantine for 7 days.
• Passengers arriving from other international locations still need to quarantine at a hotel for 14 days.
• All inbound international passengers still need to complete a negative PCR COVID test within 7 days prior to travel.
• All inbound international passengers coming into PNG still need to get Controller Approval in advance. Passengers transiting Port Moresby to Australia or to other locations do not need to get Controller approval.
• Air Niugini has now had its passenger cap into Brisbane increased to 50 passengers per flight, and with no limit into Cairns.

Air Niugini continues to fly to Brisbane (five times per week), Singapore (four times per week), and Cairns (once per week).

Due to quarantine requirements in Nadi, Port Vila, and Honiara there are presently no scheduled flights to Fiji, Vanuatu, or the Solomon Islands.

Air Niugini expects to announce the recommencement of scheduled flights to Hong Kong and Manila shortly.

Passengers will continue to be temperature tested upon entering all airport terminals, provided a face mask at check-in, and will need to fill in the passenger contact tracing form (APTF) at check-in and the health form whilst on-board.

Due to COVID restrictions, there is presently no in-flight catering provided on flights.

Corporate Communications Department
Monday 5th October, 2020