Air Niugini’s ‘People’s Balus’ makes inaugural landing at Tokua airport

The inaugural landing of the Air Niugini’s airbus A220 aircraft touched down at the Tokua Airport in East New Britain province at 10 this morning from Port Moresby.

The airbus, dubbed the People’s Balus, piloted by Captains, Timothy Narara and Christian Patchlatko was greeted by a water salute before coming to a complete stop in front of a large crowd of onlookers.

This is the first time an aircraft much bigger than a fokker 100 have landed at the Tokua Airport since it was first established in 1998.

Captain Narara and Patchlatko and the in-flight crew members were given a traditional welcome, led by the East New Britain Governor , Michael Marum, the Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister and Gazelle MP, Jelta Wong, Kokopo MP, Ereman Tobaining Junior and other senior members of the East New Britain Provincial Government.

The airbus A220 flight to Tokua was prompted by the ongoing flight cancellation, resulting in a massive backlog of flight delays, leaving passengers from the NGI Region stranded.
For the passengers who arrived on the flight, it was a relief.

But for the East New Britain provincial government, it is ground breaking for the tourism industry.
The Fisheries Minister, Jelta Wong who spoke on behalf of the East New Britain provincial government said ‘this is a next way forward for East New Britain. This is going to boost our tourism’.

The aircraft will have four flights weekly to Tokua.

The National Airports Cooperation has given the green light for the airport to accommodate the airbus ‘on a temporary basis to help address Air Niugini’s peak period passenger travels.

The successful arrival of the airbus today has indicated, that Tokua can take in bigger aircraft, that may possibly come from abroad.

The landing of the airbus A220 this morning was the first for the Tokua Airport runway to accommodate a much bigger aircraft since the runway was ungraded and extended earlier this year.