Three new ATR 42-600 aircraft will join PNG Air’s fleet under a long-term leasing arrangement, in a transaction structured around direct ownership by Papua New Guinea landowner companies linked to Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML). The aircraft are factory-new units from ATR’s production site in Toulouse.
The owners are three MRDC-managed entities representing different stakeholder groups around the Ok Tedi mine: Mineral Resources Star Mountain, Mineral Resources Ok Tedi, and Mineral Resources CMCA. The Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) coordinated the acquisition on behalf of these shareholders.
PNG Air will operate and maintain the aircraft, which are contracted to OTML to support its operations in Western Province, including staff transport, logistics and services to remote communities. MRDC and political leaders present this as the first time landowner companies in Papua New Guinea have directly purchased commercial aircraft from the manufacturer and leased them to a major airline under a long-term agreement.
This addition supports PNG Air’s ongoing fleet renewal and expansion around ATR turboprops. The carrier currently operates ATR 72-600s and targets a fleet of about 18 ATRs combining 72-600 and 42-600. MRDC has flagged the potential for three further ATR 42-600 to be acquired later by other landowner companies, which would bring locally owned aircraft under this model to six units.