Papua New Guinea's airlines grounded due to fuel shortage

Airline passengers numbering in thousands were stranded across Papua New Guinea as commercial airlines grounded planes after the supply of jet fuel was stopped on the island nation.Puma Energy, Papua New Guinea's only fuel supplier, said the shortage in supply was due to a lack of foreign currency from the Central Bank of Papua New Guinea.

The foreign currency, among other things, is also used to buy fuel from international markets.

A report in The Guardian claimed that there was chaos at the country’s main domestic airport in Port Moresby. All major airlines cancelled their scheduled domestic flights earlier on Thursday.

Hundreds of passengers were turned away from Jacksons International Airport in the capital city. This prompted passengers to demand intervention from Prime Minister James Marape of Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea’s largest airline, Air Niugini, released a statement on Wednesday, saying that all flights around the country would be cancelled because Puma Energy had suspended the supply of Jet A1 fuel to all airline companies.

“We have done everything possible to ensure that this situation did not occur and that we could continue to support the people of Papua New Guinea especially as they return from their Christmas holiday,” said Air Niugini. “The airline can assure all our customers that we are completely up to date with our payments to Puma Energy.”

Air Niugini warned that international flights could also be cancelled if the country’s central bank failed to supply enough US dollars for the fuel supplier, Puma Energy, to buy jet fuel.

Papua New Guinea’s difficult terrain and lack of interconnecting roads make air travel the most efficient means of travel. The two largest cities, Port Moresby and Lae, are only accessibleby plane.

Papua New Guinea has only two major highways linking its interior highlands to the coast and three other highways linking smaller towns. There are no railroads and though there are shipping lines to transport cargo, there are no options for people to travel far on the sea.

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