PNGBLOGS

Affordable air travel – domestic and international – has been given as one of the reasons for the proposed merger of the country’s lea­ding airline Air Niugini with the nationally-owned Airlines PNG. Public Enterprises Minister and chairman of the Merger Implementation Committee Sir Mekere Morauta has followed his agenda of strengthening state and locally-owned companies by announcing last month that the government had endorsed an “in-principle” de­cision to combine the country’s flagship carrier with an airline company that only several years ago had offered shares in its business to the public. Sir Mekere’s rationale is mostly geared toward cost-saving measures which he stated clearly in a full page advertisement taken out in The National yesterday. Ma­king the air travel relatively inexpensive and spreading the service out to more destinations is a key point in the government’s plan. Not surprisingly, however, there have been concerns raised by Public Employees Association president

Affordable air travel – domestic and international – has been given as one of the reasons for the proposed merger of the country’s lea­ding airline Air Niugini with the nationally-owned Airlines PNG. Public Enterprises Minister and chairman of the Merger Implementation Committee Sir Mekere Morauta has followed his agenda of strengthening state and locally-owned companies by announcing last month that the government had endorsed an “in-principle” de­cision to combine the country’s flagship carrier with an airline company that only several years ago had offered shares in its business to the public. Sir Mekere’s rationale is mostly geared toward cost-saving measures which he stated clearly in a full page advertisement taken out in The National yesterday. Ma­king the air travel relatively inexpensive and spreading the service out to more destinations is a key point in the government’s plan. Not surprisingly, however, there have been concerns raised by Public Employees Association presid