Air Niugini (PX, Port Moresby) has ordered two B787-8s from Boeing (BOE, Washington National) with Acting CEO Gary Seddon telling ch-aviation their deliveries are planned for March and April 2026. Both jets will also be outright purchases.
As previously reported, this B787 order replaces four B737-8s the state-owned carrier had originally ordered from Boeing as two B787-8s in 2007 only to convert them to MAX.
Seddon recently told ch-aviation the B787s would replace Air Niugini's fleet of two B767-300ERs, now almost 30 years old, and of which one is owned and the other leased from Icelandair (FI, Reykjavik Keflavik). The widebodies are used to connect Papua New Guinea with Brisbane International in Australia as well as Hong Kong International, Koror (Palau), and Singapore Changi, the ch-aviation schedules module shows.
Air Niugini is also expected to announce a new regional jet order to replace its current fleet of De Havilland Aircraft of Canada turboprops as well as seven Fokker 100s and a B737-800. According to Seddon, Seabury Capital has been retained by Air Niugini to assist with the regional jet order as well as engine procurement, MRO, and other aspects.
"We still have some work to do here - it's a very important decision which affects both our domestic and regional business model, going forward," he said.
Editorial Comment: Updates with Acting CEO Gary Seddon's comments - 06Jun2023 - 13:08 UTC