Air Niugini appoints a new General Manager to look after its subsidiary, Properties & Facilities

August 3, 2017

Air Niugini appoints a new General Manager to look after its subsidiary, Properties & Facilities

Air Niugini has for the first time appointed a female General Manager to manage one of its new subsidiaries, Property and Facilities.

She is Mrs Bonai Pepena Wala from Paramana, Central Province and Logeia Island in MilneBay, who has worked in several capacities at Air Niugini for 24 years including Finance and Human Resource.  She was Air Niugini’s Human Resource Manager, Change Management prior to the new appointment.

Air Niugini Chief Executive Officer, Mr Simon Foo in welcoming Mrs Wala to her new role said Air Niugini appoints the most fit and proper person based on merit and not gender and that he is confident of her leadership in this new role.

Mr Foo said, “With 24 year of experience working in an Airline- Industry with vast knowledge in the areas of Asset Management & Inventory, Financial Accounting, Board and Management Reporting, Revenue Accounting, Treasury, Special Projects and Human Resource Management and eleven (11) years of management experience, we are very confident of Bonai’s appointment.”

He added that Air Niugini continues to promote gender equality in the workplace and Mrs Wala’s appointment as the General Manager is a result of that. Air Niugini has a good number of female managers in various roles within the airline including three female port managers in its domestic network. The airline’s offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Manila and the Solomon Islands are also managed by women. Another two female managers look after Air Niugini’s operations at the Port Moresby International and domestic terminals. There are also female managers in several departments at the head office and the busy operations down at the airport.

Mrs Wala acknowledged the board and management of Air Niugini for the trust and confidence in her. She is ready to take up the challenge and to contribute positively towards the growth and the expansion of the subsidiary company.

She said,  “11 years of holding respective management roles has prepared me well in terms of balancing work and family life. I am dedicated and committed in this new role I am entrusted with and to perform beyond the board and the management’s expectation.”

The Property and Facilities Subsidiary will be responsible for managing all Air Niugini’s property assets both commercial and residential with a view to growing the portfolio to maximize revenue, delivering appropriate secure and cost effective property assets for Air Niugini.

In the interim, Property & Facilities Subsidiary office will be located within Air Niugini Head Office on Level 3, sharing the floor with Human Resource Division. It has a total 12 staff and a General Manager. Property and Facilities is the third ANG subsidiary company after Link PNG and Cargo.

 

Corporate Affairs Department

Thursday 3rd August 2017