Australian regional carrier Flight West Airlines will start international services in October with eight weekly flights to Papua New Guinea (PNG) capital Port Moresby.
The services, six from Cairns and another two from Townsville, will use a third Fokker F28 Mk4000 acquired by Flight West from Ansett Australia. Its routes connect with Ansett and Flight West services to other Queensland centres and will compete directly with Air Niugini, which code-shares with Qantas on the Cairns route. Approval for the new services ended a stand-off which began when PNG transport minister Philemon Embel initially refused to issue Flight West with an air operator's certificate.
The airline's chairman Dennis Buchanan has a 30-year history of business dealing in PNG, and closed down a national newspaper in 1990, claiming local politicians and bureaucrats had made it impossible for him to continue.
Meanwhile, Flight West is finalising a deal to acquire two ex-Air Ivoire Fokker 100s, and is also considering hushkitting its F28s.
Source: Flight International
