Airlines PNG is actively looking to add higher capacity turboprops.
The carrier has 10 Bombardier Dash 8-100s, which are generally 30-seat aircraft.
But the carrier's chairman Simon Wild says it hopes to finalise a deal in the next few weeks for one larger aircraft and wants to take delivery in the next six months.
The aircraft will be used to meet the needs of a specific charter client, he adds. Airlines PNG is a scheduled operator but also does charter work for mining companies.
Wild declines to completely rule out 70-seat turboprops but says "generally we are looking for 30-50 seats".
He says the ATR 42 and Bombardier Q300 are in the running but he rules out the Saab 340.
Because Papua New Guinea has a lot of unpaved runways, it is better that the aircraft have a high-mounted wing, he confirms.
Wild also says the airline is in negotiations to buy at least two more second-hand de Havilland Canada Twin Otters.
He also predicts that in this year's second half the airline will get jet aircraft so it can launch international passenger flights from Papua New Guinea to destinations in South-east Asia.
"We are looking at dry and wet-leases," he says.
Airlines PNG is the second-largest airline in Papua New Guinea and operates to many mountainous and remote airports. It announced on 4 February that it is suspending services to Onogue and Fane because it has decided that the runways there fail to meet the minimum standards for its operations.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
