22 Apr 2004

Qantas considers pulling out of PNG

1:22 pm on 22 April 2004

Australia's biggest airline is reported to be threatening to pull out of services in Papua New Guinea.

The Post-Courier newspaper reports sources as saying a Qantas audit team scrutinised security at Port Moresby international airport.

It says Qantas inspectors saw major flaws in security measures at the international terminal which posed a danger to the travelling public.

The Civil Aviation Authority told the newspaper Qantas had carried out an independent inquiry into security ahead of a security summit held by all the airport's main stakeholders.

It's reported that at the meeting, Qantas expressed serious views, including the possibility of pulling out its services or its joint flights with Air Niugini.

The meeting also heard most of the doors at the airport were in a poor state of repair, and the safety of passengers could not be guaranteed.

Airport security has been under the spotlight in PNG, after a woman was stabbed to death in a Mount Hagen air terminal, and staff on a flight out of Port Moresby last month found a senior banker had a gun in his bag.