Port Moresby to Melbourne (via Cairns and Sydney) on Qantas

 Airports, Australia, Business Class, Flights, Papua New Guinea, South Pacific Tour 2014  No Responses »
Nov 042014
 

Hotel van dropped me at the airport where there was a very short line for check-in. The Port Moresby airport felt a bit like a tin shed, with nothing in the way of amenities, but it was purely functional. Nothing in the way of air conditioning, but fortunately it was still rather early in the morning so it didn’t yet have that tin can sweatbox feeling to it…yet.

Completed check-in less than 90 minutes before flight time, but…customs still wasn’t open. So it was time to sweat it out. It was rather warm, but not completely intolerable…and at exactly 60 minutes before the flight one immigration officer showed up to let us out of the country. Not a single question why I’d only been there 24 hours, and stamp stamp, I was out of Papua New Guinea.

The terminal was under a bit of construction, and apparently here’s where the door is going to be:

IMG_4667

One common area for all international departures, which was rather empty this morning:

IMG_4669

Boarded 15 minutes before flight time, and we were quickly packed away and ready to go. Rather empty flight this morning, so I was lucky enough to have an empty seat next to me again.

 Qantas flight 192 operated by QantasLink
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (POM) to Cairns, Australia (CNS)
Depart 8:45, Arrive 10:35, Flight Time 1:50
DeHavilland Dash-8 Q400, Registration VH-LQK, Manufactured 2012, Seat 18D

Take off over Port Moresby:

IMG_4676

Continue reading »

Cairns to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on Qantas Link, overnight in PNG

 Airports, Australia, Flights, hotels, Papua New Guinea, South Pacific Tour 2014  5 Responses »
Nov 032014
 

Cab dropped me off at Cairns Airport, and I never thought to specify which terminal. Walked up to check-in, and of course I was at the domestic terminal, which meant walking about 800 meters in the heat to the international terminal with my bags. One positive, most of the walkway was covered with a canopy, and it was breezy, so at least it wasn’t outrageously hot. To add insult to injury, check-in only opened two hours in advance. I’d assumed there would be a lounge (since I’d gotten kicked out of my hotel early) but no such luck until check-in opened. Killed a bit of time chatting with some french backpackers, checked in, and was on my way.

Shot of just how quiet the international terminal was. It was dead:

IMG_4528

The “Reef Lounge” that Qantas used was rather depressing, but at least had free beverages. The snacks were pretty miserable, consisting of some rather sad-looking sandwiches and a bit of snack mix. I gave it a pass.

Boarding was right on time, through a real gate, but walked out to the plane:

IMG_4533

Qantas flight 197 operated by QantasLink
Cairns, Australia (CNS) to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (POM)
Depart 14:25, Arrive 16:10, Flight Time 1:45
DeHavilland Dash-8 Q400, Registration VH-LQK, Manufactured 2012, Seat 15D

Take off was right on time, and it was a light load today with less than half the seats taken. Great view of the Great Barrier Reef on departure:

IMG_4536

Continue reading »