On December 9, 2025, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), through the “Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund 2” (LEAP 2) funded by JICA, signed a loan agreement totaling US$35.8 million with Air Niugini Limited (Air Niugini), a national airline operator in Papua New Guinea. On December 9, 2025, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a loan agreement totaling US$35.8 million with Air Niugini Limited (Air Niugini), the national airline operator of Papua New Guinea, through the “Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund 2” (LEAP 2) funded by JICA. Of this amount, US$16.8 million will be provided through LEAP2.
The project is being executed in collaboration with the Export Finance Authority of Australia (EFA), which has also signed a US$35.8 million loan agreement with Air Niugini.
LEAP2 is a trust fund of up to US$1.5 billion that JICA contributes to ADB for the purpose of providing financing for high quality infrastructure projects implemented by the private sector in ADB’s investment countries in Asia and the Pacific region. Projects funded through LEAP2 include reducing carbon emissions, improving energy efficiency, and providing affordable and accessible health, education, and telecommunications services.
The funds raised by this loan will be used to support Air Niugini’s purchase of six new Airbus A220-100 aircraft, replacing older aircraft and introducing safer, more fuel-efficient aircraft. Due to Papua New Guinea’s harsh terrain and limited land transportation options, air transportation is extremely important to the country’s economy, and Air Niugini plays a major role in both domestic and international connections. The new aircraft to be acquired through this loan will improve Air Niugini’s operational capacity and provide safe and comfortable transportation services. In addition, the new aircraft will be more than 20% more fuel efficient than older aircraft, which is expected to reduce transportation costs and environmental impact.
This project will lead to the introduction of aircraft with high safety, low environmental impact, and high economic efficiency in terms of life cycle costs, contributing to the promotion of “high quality infrastructure investment”.
This will also contribute to SDG Goal 9 (Create a foundation for industrial and technological innovation) and Goal 13 (Take concrete action on climate change).
© Source JICA