There are several ways you can go about pricing and purchasing tickets for a trip to Papua New Guinea. Outlined below are just a couple of those options. We hope these will be a help to you in researching the possibilities of a trip to PNG!
Your final destination is Mt. Hagen (this is the closest airport to us and is where we will pick you up). You must go through the capitol city of Port Moresby first (it is the only international airport in the country).
Option 1 – Researching and booking on your own
Option 1 is the more labor intensive option. But, we have found that it is often the cheaper way to fly to New Guinea.
There are only two airlines that currently fly in and out of Papua New Guinea. Working your way backwards, starting from New Guinea to where you live, is the easiest way we’ve discovered to find your tickets. Air Niugini has been the best option and their information can be found on their web site: www.airniugini.com.pg. The first step is to list out all of the cities that Air Niugini flies in and out of, internationally, to and from Port Moresby (the capitol city in PNG). Your final destination will be Mt. Hagen, so don’t forget to make sure that your ticket is not just a round trip into Port Moresby, but continues on into Mt. Hagen. The airline code for Port Moresby is POM and the airline code for Mt. Hagen is HGU.
Once you have the list of cities and flight times/days (some cities have only 1 or 2 flights a week into Port Moresby, so be sure to carefully track your information) you can start to find corresponding flights from your home city to those cities.
For example: Air Niugini flies out of Brisbane, Australia; Hong Kong, China; and Tokyo, Japan. I will make note of the flight times/dates and prices of each of these options. Then I will start to price flights from my home city to Brisbane, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. Be sure that you will have enough time between the flights to change planes and airlines in these International Airports. And, don’t forget – if you are travelling from the U.S. you will be crossing the International Date Line. Be aware of your arrival time and DATE! Having two separate tickets is riskier but is usually the cheapest way. Before purchasing please check with us and we will look it over to see if it looks like a good option.
For the New Guinea portion of your ticket you can look at www.airniugini.com.pg. Tickets to Mt. Hagen are also now available on other search engines as well, like expedia and kayak.
If you end up needing to overnight in Port Moresby (this is a common thing because of scheduling and limited flights once in PNG) you can contact MAPANG Missionary Home for accommodations. Their email addresses are office@mapang.org.pg and mapangoffice@gmail.com. The office phone number is 011-675-340-4269 (011 is the country code). The afternoon flights are often cancelled so definitely try to get an earlier flight if possible.
For the return to the States please be sure to choose a morning flight leaving Mt. Hagen. Flights are often cancelled and you may not be able to get to Port Moresby in time for your connection if a cancellation does occur. Again, please ask us to look at any tickets before purchasing so that we can advise you of your best options.
Option 2 – Using a Missions Travel organization
Option 2 is the easiest way to purchase tickets, but you may or may not get the best prices available.
There are many mission travel agencies who help book groups or individuals for mission travel: www.siama.nl (in the Netherlands) and www.pilgrimtours.com are two that either we, or family members, have used in the past. There are many Mission Travel organization options available to you online.
Remember – You will need to have your passport before purchasing tickets. Your passport number may be required upon booking your ticket.
If you are booking as a group – it is usually best to book as many as possible (6 is often the limit) on one reservation, using one credit card.
Please feel free to call or email us. We are happy to help any way we can!