Papua New Guinea and Palau governments have signed a bilateral Air Service Agreement to allow for air service between the two countries.
Signing the agreement was Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, Walter Schnaubelt with his Palau counterpart, Minister for Public Infrastructure and Industries, Charles Obichang.
Air Service Negotiations over this important bilateral were held and concluded between Government officials of the Republic of Palau and the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, in Manila Philippines in February this year although initial discussions were held in 2018 when officials of our two (2) countries met to commence discussions over the matter.
This initial set of discussions progressed into 2019 and 2020, only to be hampered by the inevitable devastating effects of COVID-19 which severed our two countries’ plans of bringing the proposal to full realization.
Minister Schnaubelt said although the experiences of COVID-19 were devastating, its aftermath brought with it renewal and new hope for countries around the world including Palau and PNG.
“In mid-2022, the Australian Government embarked on a Pacific’s Flights Program through an Aid arrangement aimed at addressing connectivity challenges encountered by Pacific’s Small Island Developing States (PSIDs) and flagged reliable air connectivity as a plight of the people of Palau.”
Thus a procurement process through public tender was called focusing on Airlines domiciled within the Pacific region to participate in the bidding process and towards identification of a suitable operating carrier to service the people of Palau.
It was through this arrangement that Air Niugini, PNG’s designated International Airline won the tender to provide the required Air connectivity.
Schnaubelt explained that “This bilateral Air Service Agreement between the Republic of Palau and the Independent State of PNG is a significant development deliverable and emerges as a tangible outcome of Australia’s Aid program initiatives within the Pacific region.”
And he gave credit to the Australian Government for its tireless efforts in ensuring that such milestone achievements become feasible and for the ultimate benefit of our two countries.
“I am happy to announce that flight routes under the Pacific Flights Program and awarded to Air Niugini to service, was received and approved by the Governments of our two countries and reflected through this Bilateral Air Service arrangement are: Port Moresby - Koror (Palau) -Port Moresby – Brisbane – Port Moresby, vice versa, and these routes are subsidized through the Aid program.
“These routes shall provide more air connectivity for the people of Palau to Brisbane via Port Moresby and with connections to further destinations within the region and beyond.”
Minister Schnaubelt further clarified that this bilateral Air Service Agreement is a move in the right direction not only for Palau but also for PNG in terms of promoting trade, commerce, and tourism including people-to-people links.