DrA
Active Member
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2010
- Posts
- 527
I flew TSV-CNS on Qantas, and had initially been concerned about the fact my dive bag would unquestionably be over the 23kg limit the airline has for the Dash-8 flights. Got to the airport in Townsville and while my bag weighed in at 28kg, the check-in guy didn't even blink. Awesome.
Then due to a stuff up with the flight bookings (my fault), I ended up with a day and a half in CNS before my Air Niugini flight to POM. I rang and confirmed the day before my flight, mainly to confirm the baggage allowance was 30kg (due to the dive gear), and was told to get to the airport 3 hours early in CNS. Check-in didn't even open until 2 hours prior to departure. And Cairns international? There's nothing there until you've gone through immigration. Boredom ensued. Eventually got through immigration and security before getting hauled up for my underwater camera gear by the bag screeners. No, that metal thing isn't a weapon, it's the tray for my camera housing. First time I've ever had it questioned anywhere, and that thing's been around the world a few times. Was slightly disappointed at the shopping offered post-security though. I know it's a small international port, but still. The Air Niugini flight departed on time, and despite check-in confirming my VGML was recorded, apparently catering didn't actually load it. Good thing I had a stash of snack food on me that I'd intended to eat on my layover in POM (I have food allergies, and always have a contingency plan).
Due to what I suspect is politics, Australian passport holders are now required to get their visa for PNG in advance, and can no longer get a visa on arrival. I'd arranged this before the trip from the consulate in Brisbane - at no cost (just need to provide them with a reply paid registered mail envelope). So upon arrival at POM, immigration went very quickly, as not only did I already have the visa, there was hardly anyone else on the flight, and seemingly no other flights had recently landed. Convenient! Especially because I only had 90 minutes to make my domestic connection...
After picking up my bag from the PX flight, I walked outside to the domestic transfer counter for my Airlines of PNG flight to Tufi. Now, I knew in advance that this flight only had a 23kg baggage allowance, even taking into consideration my dive gear (it's normally only 16 kg), so I was prepared to stump up the kina to pay the excess (20 kina for the 5kg excess). Which they predictably tried to charge me when my bag went on the scales. I say tried, because when I went to their customer service desk to pay it so that I could show the check-in desk the receipt in order to obtain my boarding pass, nobody was there. When I went back to the check-in desk to tell them that, they just let the whole thing slide, because nobody could be bothered going to find someone to man the customer service desk. Awesome! I was mildly surprised that the Airlines of PNG flight departed on time, but I was on my way to some mindblowing diving!
The resort at Tufi is fantastic. Absolutely stunning location, and access to undeniably the best visibility diving I've seen in my life. Plus, sharks. Always a bonus. Only issue was with the food. The resort managers seemed to get the fact that I had dietary restrictions due to allergies (I confirmed this well in advance), but somehow it got lost in translation with the chef. Not the end of the world, but it meant eating lots of salted peanuts that I bought from the resort bar. Not ideal, but it stopped me going hungry.
On the way home, our flight from Tufi back to Port Moresby ended up flying via Poppondetta. Unexpected, but not really an issue, as I had an ~8 hour layover in POM anyway. A few people had told me that the best option in POM for the layover was to go to the Airways Hotel and lounge by the pool. That it was free if you purchased a meal there. Nada - it's a 50 kina "casual use" fee to access the pool area (even if you don't go in the pool), regardless of whether or not you buy a meal. Which I did, because the airport is undergoing massive upgrades, and there is nothing open in there except for the airline check-in counters and the currency exchange place. No food (there's cafe's outside though), no duty free, no nothing. Buy all of your souvenirs before you get to the airport, there's no option for the last minute gifts there right now. That being said, the coffee shop at the Airways Hotel actually makes pretty good coffee, so it wasn't a total bust.
Again, slightly surprised the POM-CNS flight on Air Niugini departed on time (not sure where this assumption that all flights in PNG are a nightmare came from?). Even more surprised that my VGML was on board - stupidly assumed that if catering in Cairns couldn't get it right, then what hope did Port Moresby have? Yes, I know what they say about assume. The flight landed just a bit too late for me to make the last CNS-TSV flight home, so I had to overnight in Cairns.
Final flight home CNS-TSV on QF was straight forward. They did ask what was in my bag to make it so heavy though (again a 23kg limit due to the Dash-8), and as soon as I said "scuba gear" they just let it go. Nice
I suspect I got away with this on QF in both directions because the flights were only half full. If they'd been full, they possibly wouldn't have been so lenient, regardless of my FF status.
Fun trip, no real flight problems, which was nice. I expected chaos given what I'd heard from other people about flights and airports in PNG. Not the case for me, so pleasantly surprised!
Some photos...
Then due to a stuff up with the flight bookings (my fault), I ended up with a day and a half in CNS before my Air Niugini flight to POM. I rang and confirmed the day before my flight, mainly to confirm the baggage allowance was 30kg (due to the dive gear), and was told to get to the airport 3 hours early in CNS. Check-in didn't even open until 2 hours prior to departure. And Cairns international? There's nothing there until you've gone through immigration. Boredom ensued. Eventually got through immigration and security before getting hauled up for my underwater camera gear by the bag screeners. No, that metal thing isn't a weapon, it's the tray for my camera housing. First time I've ever had it questioned anywhere, and that thing's been around the world a few times. Was slightly disappointed at the shopping offered post-security though. I know it's a small international port, but still. The Air Niugini flight departed on time, and despite check-in confirming my VGML was recorded, apparently catering didn't actually load it. Good thing I had a stash of snack food on me that I'd intended to eat on my layover in POM (I have food allergies, and always have a contingency plan).
Due to what I suspect is politics, Australian passport holders are now required to get their visa for PNG in advance, and can no longer get a visa on arrival. I'd arranged this before the trip from the consulate in Brisbane - at no cost (just need to provide them with a reply paid registered mail envelope). So upon arrival at POM, immigration went very quickly, as not only did I already have the visa, there was hardly anyone else on the flight, and seemingly no other flights had recently landed. Convenient! Especially because I only had 90 minutes to make my domestic connection...
After picking up my bag from the PX flight, I walked outside to the domestic transfer counter for my Airlines of PNG flight to Tufi. Now, I knew in advance that this flight only had a 23kg baggage allowance, even taking into consideration my dive gear (it's normally only 16 kg), so I was prepared to stump up the kina to pay the excess (20 kina for the 5kg excess). Which they predictably tried to charge me when my bag went on the scales. I say tried, because when I went to their customer service desk to pay it so that I could show the check-in desk the receipt in order to obtain my boarding pass, nobody was there. When I went back to the check-in desk to tell them that, they just let the whole thing slide, because nobody could be bothered going to find someone to man the customer service desk. Awesome! I was mildly surprised that the Airlines of PNG flight departed on time, but I was on my way to some mindblowing diving!
The resort at Tufi is fantastic. Absolutely stunning location, and access to undeniably the best visibility diving I've seen in my life. Plus, sharks. Always a bonus. Only issue was with the food. The resort managers seemed to get the fact that I had dietary restrictions due to allergies (I confirmed this well in advance), but somehow it got lost in translation with the chef. Not the end of the world, but it meant eating lots of salted peanuts that I bought from the resort bar. Not ideal, but it stopped me going hungry.
On the way home, our flight from Tufi back to Port Moresby ended up flying via Poppondetta. Unexpected, but not really an issue, as I had an ~8 hour layover in POM anyway. A few people had told me that the best option in POM for the layover was to go to the Airways Hotel and lounge by the pool. That it was free if you purchased a meal there. Nada - it's a 50 kina "casual use" fee to access the pool area (even if you don't go in the pool), regardless of whether or not you buy a meal. Which I did, because the airport is undergoing massive upgrades, and there is nothing open in there except for the airline check-in counters and the currency exchange place. No food (there's cafe's outside though), no duty free, no nothing. Buy all of your souvenirs before you get to the airport, there's no option for the last minute gifts there right now. That being said, the coffee shop at the Airways Hotel actually makes pretty good coffee, so it wasn't a total bust.
Again, slightly surprised the POM-CNS flight on Air Niugini departed on time (not sure where this assumption that all flights in PNG are a nightmare came from?). Even more surprised that my VGML was on board - stupidly assumed that if catering in Cairns couldn't get it right, then what hope did Port Moresby have? Yes, I know what they say about assume. The flight landed just a bit too late for me to make the last CNS-TSV flight home, so I had to overnight in Cairns.
Final flight home CNS-TSV on QF was straight forward. They did ask what was in my bag to make it so heavy though (again a 23kg limit due to the Dash-8), and as soon as I said "scuba gear" they just let it go. Nice
I suspect I got away with this on QF in both directions because the flights were only half full. If they'd been full, they possibly wouldn't have been so lenient, regardless of my FF status.Fun trip, no real flight problems, which was nice. I expected chaos given what I'd heard from other people about flights and airports in PNG. Not the case for me, so pleasantly surprised!
Some photos...
