AIRLINES PNG (formely Milne Bay Air)

I have to say this and say it out aloud I should.........................."AIRLINES PNG" DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE LOCAL PAPUA NEW GUINEAN. It just wants its hard earned money.

I am an avid traveller (both business & pleasure) within PNG and I choose to fly with APNG everytime when and if there is that choice available. You see there are sectors that APNG do not fly so I have no choice but to fly with the politicised 'toilet tissue' airline 'Air Niugini'.

The reason is simply that APNG before it changed its name was the Milne Bay Air (MBA) and I am a hard core Milne Bay fan. Second, I am a shareholder (not big for its standards but huge from the view of my pocket!!) so would like to think I am contributing to my own company!!!?? In contributing thus far, I would justly appreciate a good service (they do a good job the pilots) by the people who stand out front and face the paying customers - especially towards their own kind - the local Papua New Guineans.

I'll tell you my recent experience before I conclude with what I assume is happening between the check in counter and the ticketing reservations staff (especially at Port Moresby's Jacksons Domestic Terminal).

Coming off from Tabubil (APNG Dash 7), I checked-in the next day to fly to a Western Port on the twin ottter. My access luggage was K675.00 (alot of money compared to the size & weight of the cargo if you really physically look at it but anyways). Having paid this in company signed check I proceeded to the departure lounge for the scheduled 6.30am - mind you, to catch this flight I had to be up at 4am!!!

By 9.00am we were still waiting without any information of what was happening - in the meantime out in the tarmac I could not see any twin-otter planes standing by.
By 10.00am we were informed (in a hurdled group as if in a basketball team peptalk session) to check back at the ticketing counter for further information; and this was not until one of us had to actually front up to the ticketing officer.

Anyhow, having got to the ticketing counter, we were told that we would depart at 2.45pm, that is after the twin otter that was doing another sector returns.

We did eventually boarded and headed for our destination. After 1hr 30mins and only 20 mins out of our first port of call, the 2 x pilots had to turn the plane back as there was an electrical problem and would affect the night flying (since they would be returning in the dark if they were to complete the schedules) - thus we flew another 1hr30mins back to POM. We were told that our flight would be rescheduled to 9.00am the next day.

Rightly so, I was provided accomodation at the Lamana Hotel as I was a transiting pax.

The next day, come the time to depart at 9.00am, we found out that some half of the pax will share another sector flight whilst we shared with the other sector! - and I thought we had a plane dedicated for our selves!! This is where all the 'fuckups' happened I suppose.

When I got to my destination, I had only the laptop bag I had as hand carry BUT ALL MY LUGGAGE WORTH K675.00 REMAINED BACK IN POM!!!! The reasoning was that because we had to share another sectors flight/plane their luggage got priority over ours. We were told that our luggage would be brought in dribs & drabs depending on the weight etc; etc.

Its been a week now and as I write/ post this article I am still waiting for my luggage. I have also heard that 3 out of the 7 pieces of luggage I have has gone missing (and right in that APNG Domestic Traffic Office - you note in APNG website that the traffic/operations and cargo section staff work together!!!) they are really in cohorts to rip you off!!.

Now get this...................when you check with your lugggage, the check in clerk will check in everything you got plus alll those other passenggers cargoes too (do you wonder if he has already a limit on the weight he should be working on??). You hhave paid for you access luggage and everythings checked in so rightly so everything should GET ON THE PLANE - YEAH!!!! Not so. By the time come time for loading - THEY FIND OUT THEY HAVE OVER CHECKED IN PAX CARGOES/LUGGAGE.
Now pay attention here....................if you are assumed a non threat and have paid too much already - they will not inform you that they will offload your cargo (the money is split between the ticketing officer & the reservations clerk at the paying desk).
Otherwise, you will be informed that you will have to take off some of your cargo/luggage (which they will say will come in later which will either be very very later [after you have spent an untold expenses chasing iit up] or will get lost and never turn up - in which case they still split the money!!!).

This is the typical experience that many rural semi-literate Papua New Guinean APNG traveller is living with. It is made the more complicated (aside from being semi-literate) by the lack of communications, the distant to travel between the closest agent/airstrip and the village, the APNG Agent being uninfluential with the airline managements and the desolation of some of the communities the airline service.

I am fortunate that I will get back to Port Moresby at some stage even if my luggage dont get here and as any typical PNG would do to vent his frustration will manhandle the ticketing person.

Now don't get smart with me and tell me to be patient so on and so forth because if some of my luggages have gone missing, there is no way I will be compensated - all they will do is push all kinds of paper in my face to fill in and hope that this will tire me out and finally give it up - a good manhandling, broken noses and bodily abuse is compensation enough..

Infact I've got my bail-out money (plus police bribes) ready, so I can walk in and walk out.