National Airports Corporation (NAC) is driving developments in airport operations, delivering premier customer service and economic opportunities for the residents of Papua New Guinea.
SMARTER AIRPORT SOLUTIONS
Playing a central role in the changing economic, political and social development of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is the country’s ever-evolving aviation industry.
Due mainly to the complexity of PNG’s terrain – which often can present major constraints for road construction – air transport is the only possible means that can link certain parts of the country to its main centres. The National Airports Corporation (NAC) currently owns and operates 22 national airports located within Papua New Guinea, including 13 jet and nine non-jet.
“At present the main gateway into the country is Port Moresby International Airport, with our Lae, Gurney and Mt. Hagen airports designed to handle the requirements of international flights as well,” explains the Company on its website. “Since we were established in 2010, we have both developed and implemented a comprehensive corporate strategy that has an end goal of high technological and economic significance for Papua New Guinea in the long-run.
“We hope that by 2030, our Company will be operating a total of 15 smart airports and providing and operating these airports under international ICAO standards.”
The Company has always been driven by an underlying need to provide PNG with state-of-the-art facilities, ensuring efficient and effective processing of both aircrafts and passengers with thanks to a highly skilled workforce.
“We work tirelessly to strengthen our working relationships with strategic development partners and stakeholders,” continues the Company. “NAC is continuing to ensure our airports are having a positive effect on improving the mobility of people in this country, as well as creating economic opportunities in the region.”
CORE STRATEGIES FOR EXCELLENCE
There have been many aspects that came together to create the success that is NAC, a large part of which came down to stakeholder management to include all donor agencies, development partners and commercial banks. Some of the other stakeholders have included airline operators, regulators and key interest parties such as governments of countries located towards the North and South of our borders whose citizens will often fly into the Company’s airspace.
“It is not just support from our partners that has helped us establish such a renowned reputation, we have also had to work tirelessly to achieve excellence in governance,” adds the Company. “There are many key facets involved, including responsibility, engagement, accountability and transparency in all aspects of our decision making.”
Then of course you have to take into account the achievement of operational excellence across all aspects of the business. All of NAC’s key airport terminal buildings, facilities and equipment are in operation 24-seven in order to ensure the efficient processing of aircraft and passenger traffic, as well as providing a safe and secure environment.
“Our internal processes are automated and integrated in order to improve the reliability of our brand,” adds the Company on its website. “But of course our people possess the skills, knowledge and behavioural competency that is there to support and secure the successful execution of each of these processes consistently.
“In addition our management and leadership practices are the best in the business, with the right tools, systems, technology and the right people doing the right job at the right time.”
INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS
The National Airports Corporation offers an extensive range of airport operations and services, commercial services, engineering and project management in Papua New Guinea.
“We believe as a company we excel in the market that we are in,” affirms the Company. “We are constantly able to innovate and come up with new solutions to meet the needs of our customers while keeping them safe.”
There is a wide variety of services that the Company now caters for, having adapted over time to create a more varied and well-rounded offering. The services on offer can range from pavement construction, repair and maintenance, to safety inspection, reporting and surveillance.
The Company states: “We feel we have created an offering that covers every possible need within the industry, including ground services, terminal services, retail management, commercial property development, planning design and development, as well as contract administration.”
This is an aspect of the Company that has used up a lot of time and energy in development, ensuring that each varying aspect is perfected to offer the best possible and safest service to customers.
2030 CORPORATE STRATEGY
Always looking to the future and placing itself at the forefront of developments, NAC has recently launched its 2030 corporate strategy plan and for the Company this is the first of its kind to be published and launched. At the event when NAC announced this exciting plan, approximately 200 guests attended.
“We were blessed by the presence of our two Civil Aviation Ministers as well as other dignitaries, including Secretary for Transport, First Secretary to the Minister for Transport, CEOs and MDs of both international and local stakeholder organisations,” explains the Company on its website. “During the past five to six years we haven’t had a plan to guide us and therefore in essence have been operating without knowing where we are heading.
“The strategy outlined within the document that we have put together gives us some sense of direction and milestone dates to work towards and targets to achieve.”
Some of the key points that NAC has come up with include its aspiration to run 15 smart airports by 2030, implement corporate core values and behaviours and lastly a five-year sustainable growth strategy plan from 2017 to 2022.
“One of the more important points we believe will be paramount in our growth is having a solid core airport system, as well as the ability to capture data for planning and forecasting future airport and airline developments,” concludes the Company. “We are incredibly excited for the future of our corporate strategy plan, working on it as a living document that will be updated as we progress in our journey to positive change.”
