Air Niugini, the national carrier of Papua New Guinea, has taken delivery of its first A220-300 aircraft, on lease from Azorra.
With the delivery, Air Niugini becomes the 25th global operator of the A220 family.
The aircraft, dubbed “People’s Balus”, departed the Airbus Final Assembly Line in Mirabel for a delivery flight to Port Moresby, with scheduled stops in Vancouver, Honolulu and Fiji.
The delivery represents a milestone in Air Niugini’s fleet modernisation programme, with eight A220-100s on direct order with Airbus and three A220-300s being leased from Azorra for a total of 11 A220 family aircraft.
The aircraft’s special livery marks the 50th Anniversary of the Independence of Papua New Guinea. The design was brought to life by a dedicated Airbus team of 120 painters who worked to apply 11 distinct colours using a special airbrushing technique.
The Air Niugini A220-300 is configured to accommodate a total of 138 passengers. This fits into the market the A220-300 is fit for – the 120-160 seat segment
The A220 is powered by Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation GTF engines, offering a 25% reduction in carbon emissions per seat compared with previous-generation aircraft.
A fleet step-change
Air Niugini operates a mixed fleet, with the airline going through a major renewal. Currently, they operate De Havilland Dash8-300, De Havilland Dash8-400, Fokker 70, Fokker 100, Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 767-300ER.
The Airbus A220 will be replacing the existing Fokker fleet, offering a capacity uplift over the Fokker 70 (with 73 seats) and Fokker 100 (with 101 seats) – given the A220-300 has 138 seats.
In addition, the Boeing 767-300ERs will be swapped out with Boeing 787-8 aircraft, as part of the modernisation programme.
For Airbus, it’s another delivery in the pipeline for the Airbus A220 family. As of the end of August 2025, Airbus has secured more than 940 orders for the A220 from over 30 customers and has delivered over 440 aircraft.
The A220 is already flying on more than 1,800 routes to more than 480 destinations worldwide.
With Air Niugini joining the A220 operators’ list, expect the routes and destinations list to grow.
All Images, Airbus.
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