Update on PNG Fuel Situation

TelefominFlying

16 Apr

Last year we asked you to pray for the challenging fuel situation in PNG. The local fuel supplier stopped giving us fuel drums for a few months, on and off throughout the year, forcing us to order fuel from Australia and New Zealand for 2-3 times the cost of the PNG fuel. This really affected us in Telefomin as all of our fuel comes from drums which are flown from one of our other bases. When the road from the nearest Mine Town (Tabubil) was opened in Nov 2024, we were able to get 30 drums of fuel on a truck for the first time, but unfortunately, the road is still being worked on and is not safe for regular runs with bigger trucks, so the trucking company is not able to bring us more drums. This means Ryan is back to doing weekly fuel runs in his plane, bringing 5 drums at a time, to keep our base stocked.

In 2024, the problem with local fuel drum supply and cost went on for so long that MAF PNG Management were forced to add a fuel surcharge of 15% to the cost of all flights towards the end of the year. This really hit people hard. We are blessed to have supporters all over the world who contribute to MAF running costs and subsidise flights, but people still need to buy a ticket to fly with us. 15% was a huge increase in costs for them, but sadly, we had no choice as we had to make sure basic costs were covered. Thanks to the hard work of MAF PNG Management and a local company taking over supply of fuel drums, this fuel surcharge is being removed at Easter! Such a great blessing to be able to restore the lower prices next week.

To read more about this situation, see the update on the MAF Australia website by clicking here.