Minister for State Owned Enterprises, William Duma has admitted that the recent surcharge of fares on Air Niugini tickets was imposed illegally by certain management with the company.
He said the fares were not approved by the Air Niugini Board; hence resulted in the termination of some executive officers.
“Those increases were never approved by the board of Air Niugini and never came to me as the Minister responsible and that is why the people behind this were terminated,” Duma told Parliament.
He said this is one of the reasons as to why the Cabinet have to make the decision to let go of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Duma added that Air Niugini’s intention was to provide fare that is affordable to the people and not such increased fares.
He said Air Niugini Board is currently reviewing the airfares and affordable rate will be introduced in the near future.
Meantime, Duma also clarified that Air Niugini has also imposed a cash handling fees on its sales agents to encourage people to use cards and not carry cash around in terms of their security and safety.