Manus Island of Papua New Guinea now has a massive new state of art airport terminal after the opening of the upgraded Momote Airport by Prime Minister James Marape. The upgraded facility also caters for VISA and immigration processing counters for the case of direct international flights while the airport parking bay itself can accommodate one Boeing 737-800 series aircraft and two Fokker 100 aircraft at one time.

NEW LOOK MOMOTE AIRPORT AIMS TO BOOST ECONOMY IN THE MANUS ISLAND OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

by PNG HAUS BUNG | 26th April 2022.

Manus Province now has a massive new state of art airport terminal after the opening of the upgraded Momote Airport by Prime Minister James Marape yesterday.

The upgrade work sees the establishment of the new terminal building, runway extension from 1, 810 meters to 2, 010 meters, a new power station and a market facility.

The redevelopment project comes at a cost of K101.9 million that was co-funded by the Asian Development Bank and PNG Government and implemented under the Civil Aviation Development Investment Program (CADIP).

Designed resembling a stingray, the new state of art terminal includes departure, arrival and VIP lounges, check-in counters, Close Circuit Camera TV (CCTVs), baggage screening machines, toilet facilities among other modern terminal facilities.

The upgraded facility also caters for VISA and immigration processing counters for the case of direct international flights while the airport parking bay itself can accommodate one Boeing 737-800 series aircraft and two Fokker 100 aircraft at one time.

Prime Minister James Marape speaking during the opening ceremony said the airport redevelopment is well aligned with his government’s ambition to stimulate economic activities in the province.

He said this compliments the recent passing of the Manus Special Economic Zone Bill in parliament that will allow national and international companies to set up and do business in the province without having to pay their corporate tax.

He also called on the National Airports Corporation to allocate a space so that they can set up the Head Office for the Special Economic Zone at Momote.

“We will commitment K10 million for that establishment and I want the Manus Provincial Government and NAC to work together on that to grow business and commerce activities,” Mr Marape said.

“National Fisheries Authority is also tasked to set up cold storage facilities in the province and that will support the ambition of exporting fish products within the country and also overseas.”

Civil Aviation Minister Walter Schnaubelt told the people that Manus is fortunate to be part of this important infrastructure redevelopment and must ensure it is sustained well for the long run of its operation.

“The sustainability and consistency of the operation of this terminal and airport depend on the care you people of Manus offer,” Mr Schnaubelt said.

“It is not only the job of National Airports Corporation to look after the facility, it is everybody’s job.”

Present for the opening yesterday Prime Minister James Marape and wife Rachael Marape, Cilvil Aviation Minister Walter Schnaubelt, Fisheries Minister Dr Lino Tom, Commerce and Industry Minister Henry Amuli, Manus Governor Charlie Benjamin, Manus MP and Parliament Speaker Job Pomat along with government departments’ and statutory heads and other senior government officials.

The officials received a rousing welcome upon arrival in Manus.