PNG Air has temporarily suspended its flights into Tokua airport after the terminal building was ransacked by more that 25 criminals who broke into the terminal this morning.

The airline released a statement at 10am today saying the suspension remains indefinite until the airline can determine safe operation back into the province.

East New Britain Police Commander, Januarius Vosivai said the criminals entered the airport terminal from the airside and vandalized both PNG Air and Air Niugini Officers inside the terminal building.

“Until the NAC (National Airport Corporation) gives a report, we can know the extent of damage. But the incident that happened paints a bad picture for the province,” said PPC Vosivai

Police say the criminals entered the airport premises with bush knives and attacked a security guard in the process.

The ransacking incident occurred in the early hours of this morning and properties destroyed include computers, scanning machines and check-in counters.

In December 2020, police reported a similar attack where 20 armed criminals from a nearby settlement, attacked and robbed students from the University of Natural Resources and Environment who were at the Tokua airport waiting to check-in.

The security breached in 2020 had forced authorities to close Tokua airport but was reopened shortly. In this incident, the extent of damages on airport properties is estimated to be more and may take longer for flights to be resumed.

Police say they have identified six suspects involved in the raid and are working on arresting them.

Meanwhile national flag carrier, Air Niugini has offloaded a number of its passengers who purchased tickets to fly out of Tokua since last Saturday 9th September 2023.

With the airport now vandalized those passengers offloaded may be spending Independence away from their families.

Recent: https://insidepng.com/continuous-flight-delays-cause-frustration-among-passengers/