Airlink (Papua New Guinea)

Founded	1989
Commenced operations	June 1990
Ceased operations	27 July 2007
Operating bases	Madang Airport
Hubs	Rabaul Airport ; Kavieng Airport ; Wewak International Airport ; Mount Hagen Airport ;
Fleet size	See Fleet below
Destinations	See Services below
Headquarters	Madang, Papua New Guinea

Last updated July 21, 2019

Airlink was an airline based in Madang, Papua New Guinea that ceased operations in late July 2007.^[1] It provided high-frequency scheduled and charter services to outlying regions of Papua New Guinea. Its main base was Madang Airport, with hubs at Rabaul Airport, Kavieng Airport, Wewak International Airport and Mount Hagen Airport.^[2]

An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines utilize aircraft to supply these services, and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements. Generally, airline companies are recognized with an air operating certificate or license issued by a governmental aviation body.

Madang Town in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea

Madang is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century.

Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea is a country in Oceania that occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia. Its capital, located along its southeastern coast, is Port Moresby. The western half of New Guinea forms the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua.

Code data

IATA Code: ND^[2]

History

The airline was established in 1989 and started scheduled operations in June 1990. It bought out the assets of Talair in the New Guinea Islands Region in October 1990. The company suffered considerable hardships due to the 1994 Rabaul volcanic eruptions, including the loss of four aircraft.^[2]

Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, on the island of New Britain, in the country of Papua New Guinea. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption in its harbor.

Accidents and incidents

On 30 March 2007, an Airlink Embraer EMB-110-P1 Bandeirante carrying newspapers crashed in West New Britain province between Gasmata and Kandrian. Both pilots were instantly killed whilst faulty maintenance is suspected.
Two weeks later on 13 April 2007, Airlink Flight P2ALK, a Cessna 404 crashed on landing at Goroka Airport. The three women and the pilot on board survived. The plane was in a holding pattern over the airport and waiting for low clouds to lift. Pilot error is believed to be the cause as the pilot proceeded to land in the wrong direction on a one-way strip and overran the runway.

Goroka Airport is an airport in Goroka, Papua New Guinea.

Airlink suffered two fatal crashes in 1999, when an Islander crashed near Hoskins in West New Britain Province, killing all aboard, and a couple of months later when an Embraer EMB-110-P1 Bandeirante flew into terrain on the Eastern approach to Goroka (again, pilot error).

Shutdown

Airlink ceased operations on 27 July 2007 as a result of "business difficulties". It had 200 employees. The airline's operating licence had only been re-issued a few days earlier, after a period of suspension following two serious accidents in May. One plane had crashed in West New Britain while a second had crashed on landing in Goroka.^[3]

The loss of the airline was described as "sad and disappointing" by outgoing Madang Governor Sir Peter Barter, who said that the closure would affect the transport of people and cargo, including vital medical supplies.^[1]

Sir Peter Leslie Charles Barter, GCL, OBE was Minister for Health and Bougainville Affairs in the Papua New Guinean Government and is active in the reconciliation movement in Bougainville. He established the Melanesian Foundation in 1980, a not-for-profit organisation that invests in remote communities that have been hospitable to tourists. He was born in Sydney and attended Newington College (1952-1955) before training as a commercial fixed wing and helicopter pilot and flying for Qantas.

Services

Airlink operated services to the following domestic scheduled destinations (at January 2005)^{[ citation needed ]}: Bialla, Buka, Cape Orford, Gasmata, Gonalia, Goroka, Hoskins, Jacquinot Bay, Kandrian, Kavieng, Kiunga, Lae, Lihir Island, Madang, Mount Hagen, Namatanai, Nissan Island, Port Moresby, Rabaul, Tabubil, Tadji, Talasea, Tari, Vanimo and Wewak.

Gasmata is a village on the southern coast of New Britain, Papua New Guinea located at 6° 16' 60S 150° 19' 60E. There is a Gasmata Airport in Surumi Peninsula area adjacent.

Jacquinot Bay is a bay in East New Britain Province, south-eastern New Britain, Papua New Guinea, at 5.5666667°S 151.5°E. It is near the mountain where twenty-eight people died in when a Royal Australian Air Force plane crashed in November 1945. To its west is the Gasmata Bay and the Wide Bay and Rabaul Bay are situated to the north-east.

Fleet

The Airlink fleet consisted of the following aircraft (at March 2007):^[2]

Previously operated

At January 2005 the airline also operated ^{[ citation needed ]}:

- Cessna 402

- DHC6 - Twin Otter

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References

1 2 "Business difficulties". The National. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2007.
1 2 3 4 Flight International 27 March 2007
↑ "Airlink closes down", Post Courier, 30 July 2007

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[20070730-nat-1] 1 2 "Business difficulties". The National. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2007.

[FI-2] 1 2 3 4 Flight International 27 March 2007

[3] "Airlink closes down", Post Courier, 30 July 2007