Air Niugini to start flights to Auckland and Tokyo from mid-2026

Photo: Andrew Thomas

Air Niugini announced it will resume flights to Auckland and Tokyo Narita in mid-2026. The airline most recently flew scheduled services to Tokyo six years ago and hasn’t regularly flown to Auckland since 1998.

From June 11, Air Niugini will start a three-weekly service from Port Moresby (POM) to Auckland (AKL) using Boeing 737-800s. The next month, the airline will begin a two-weekly flight from Port Moresby to Tokyo (NRT) from July 18 with their Boeing 767-300ERs. Both of these routes are not currently served by any airline.

Japan’s Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Hisanobu Mochizuki, acknowledged a new Tokyo service to Papua New Guinea in a speech in Port Moresby, saying the route would “elevate business and bilateral relations between the two countries.”

Recently, Air Niugini expanded its Australian offerings with a third-weekly service between Sydney (SYD) and Port Moresby.

The airline has orders for 11 Airbus A220 aircraft to replace its now aging fleet of Fokker F100s and F70s. It took delivery of it’s first A220-300 in September last year on lease from Azorra, becoming the 25th operator of the aircraft.

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