Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

Headhunters to Mask Festival

Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea

I need cheap flights between Solomon Islands and New Ireland/New Britain in PNG. It would be great if they were direct.
Thanks!

Basically, there aren't any. The only airline that flies from Solomon Islands to PNG is Air New Guinea, from Honiara to Port Moresby.
There have been attmepts to fly into Bougainville from Solomon Islands, but I don't think anything is happening at present.
You could check the price of fares on Pacific Blue to Brisbane, and then a flight to Port Moresby, but as flights into Brisbane from Honiara arrive about 6pm, you would probably need to factor in a night's accommodation.

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Just looked in my LP and it describes an "easy" jaunt between Lae to New Ireland to Bougainvillea to Sol Islands, no problem. I know what the delays are like in that part of the world. LP says you could do it in 3 weeks - sounds more like 3 months, IF you can get thru immigration.

Does Air Niugini have the monopoly on flights to New Ireland/New Britain? Have you heard about any special fares they offer that aren't advertised? It looks outrageously expensive.
Thanks so much!
Cheers

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Air Niugini have a monopoly on most of the air traffic but Air PNG may be an option for domestic flights.

Sometimes Air Niugini have specials that include flight and accommodation, but if you are going for a festival, then it's not likely to be cheap and both seats and accommodations may fill quickly.

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