43rd anniversary

Live bands, traditional dances and singsing, artefacts and food display were featured throughout the day.

The streets of the nation’s capital were a sea of black, red and gold as residents flocked into the designated venues to be part of the nationwide celebrations.

While Port Moresby’s main independence celebration venue; the Paga Ring road, was quiet with families out and about winding down the long weekend, Unagi Oval and Jack Pidik were very much alive and buzzing with activities.

Both venues were packed to capacity.

This year Air Niugini choses ENB to stage the anniversary as It’s a way of bringing Air Niugini to other parts of Papua New Guinea instead of having all anniversary celebrations centered around Port Moresby.

Last year, the anniversary celebrations were held in Mt Hagen and the year before in Lae.

From an humble beginning, Air Niugini took to the skies in 1973, taking over Papua New Guinea’s established domestic routes and opening up previously inaccessible areas to locals and tourists.