At the end of March, Air Niugini will begin operating what will be the longest Airbus A220 route to and from Australia. As reported yesterday by Aero Routes, at the start of the IATA Summer Schedule, which encompasses the winter in the Southern Hemisphere, the flag carrier of Papua New Guinea plans on flying its new Airbus narrowbody twinjets from Port Moresby to Sydney. These are currently all examples of the larger A220-300 model.
This will represent the second international route served by Air Niugini’s small but mighty fleet of Airbus A220 jets, with the launch also coinciding with a frequency boost on this corridor from Papua New Guinea to Australia. According to Great Circle Map, the distance between Port Moresby and Sydney amounts to a total of 1,481 nautical miles (2,743 km). Elsewhere, Qantas is also set to launch an A220 route that is almost as long.
Thrice-Weekly A220 Flights From Port Moresby
Credit: Great Circle Map
According to present tracking data made available by Flightradar24, Air Niugini currently flies the Boeing 737-800 twice a week between its main hub at Port Moresby Jacksons International (POM) and Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) in southeastern Australia. From March 29, however, this frequency will increase to three weekly round trips, with the older Boeing twinjets being replaced by brand-new Airbus A220-300 narrowbodies.
Aero Routes details the fact that, as of the start of the IATA Summer Schedule, Air Niugini flight PX1 will depart Port Moresby at 1:10 pm on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, with its arrival into Sydney timed for 5:05 pm. The A220 will stay in Australia overnight, before departing Sydney at 7:45 am on Friday, Saturday, and Monday, with its arrival into Port Moresby timed for 11:45 am. Air Niugini Acting CEO Gary Seddon explained in 2023 that:
“The new aircraft will offer the highest levels of comfort for our passengers, while also ensuring a significant reduction in fuel consumption and emissions when compared to the aircraft they will replace.”
Air Niugini & The Airbus A220
Credit: Airbus
Seddon’s comments were made in November 2023 when Air Niugini first announced to the world that it had placed an order with Airbus for both variants of its A220 family. The deal consisted of six units of the smaller A220-100, which it would purchase outright, alongside another two A220-100s and three larger A220-300s that it planned to acquire “from third-party lessors.” As detailed in the table below, all three A220-300s have now arrived.
Air Niugini’s Airbus A220 Fleet (per ch-aviation)
Model
Delivered
On Order
A220-100
8
A220-300
3
Air Niugini received its first example of the A220-300 back in September of 2025, with the jet, as pictured above, wearing a special livery that marked the 50th anniversary of Papua New Guinea’s independence from Australia. The delivery flight from Montreal took four days, with the plane stopping in Vancouver, Honolulu, and Fiji en route. Since then, two more A220-300s have arrived, with Air Niugini welcoming the third just before Christmas.
According to present fleet data made available by ch-aviation, the flag carrier of Papua New Guinea has chosen to configure its Airbus A220-300s in a two-class layout that has space for a grand total of 138 passengers on board. This capacity is split between eight business class recliners and 130 economy seats.
Related
Airbus A220 Delivery Flight To This Airline Took Four Days
Papua New Guinea-based Air Niugini has taken delivery of the first of its 11 Airbus A220s on order.
Qantas Will Push It Close With A New Route Next Month
Credit: Great Circle Map
The main Airbus A220 operator in the Asia-Pacific region is Australian flag carrier Qantas, for whom National Jet Systems currently flies 11 units of the A220-300 (and has 18 more examples on order) under the QantasLink regional brand. Next month, these jets will be used to ply a route that is almost as long as Air Niugini’s service from Port Moresby to Sydney, namely the 1,356 NM (2,512 km) hop from Brisbane (BNE) to Wellington (WLG)
According to present fleet data made available by aeroLOPA, QantasLink’s Airbus A220-300s have an almost identical configuration to those of Air Niugini, with 137 seats spread across two classes. However, this layout has a slightly greater premium emphasis, with 10 business class and 127 economy seats.
