Dede Sophie

Papua New Guinea’s National flag carrier, Air Niugini has performed exceptionally well in delivering its schedule, outperforming many airlines in Australia and the Pacific. In June Air Niugini operated 2,260 flights with 2,104 of those serving the domestic market. Air Niugini Outperformed other Airlines in the Pacific in Schedule Delivery  [Photo by Air Niugini] When compared with key airlines in Australia for the month of June, Air Niugini’s on time departure performance (flights leaving within 15 minutes of the scheduled departure time) sat at 82% as compared with Qantas at 58.7% and Virgin Australia with 59.8%  The cancellation rate for Air Niugini for June was 3.8% while Qantas cancelled 7.5% of all their services and Virgin Australia cancelling 5.8% of their flights. Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bruce Alabaster said “It’s not easy ensuring schedule integrity and with the difficult conditions under which we operate here in PNG that places further pressure on our schedule. “ ...

Tetrapanax papyrifer ‘Rex’ is arguably one of the best exotic, tropical effect, cold-hardy plants around. It has magnificent, architectural leaves and has proven to be hardy to the extreme. Native to southern China and the island of Taiwan it is commonly known as the ‘Rice Paper Plant’ as the stem pith is used to make a substance commonly called rice paper, but more properly called pith paper. In the UK you can expect to see Tetrapanax papyrifer ‘Rex’ at its full height anywhere between 3–5 metres tall, however in its native habitat 7 meters have been observed! So how do you grow the tropical effect ‘must-have’ garden plant that is Tetrapanax papyrifer ‘Rex’? For best results position in full sun to dappled shade and prior to planting add a very rich compost such as composted farmyard manure to a rate of 50/50 with your existing soil. Dig a hole at least twice the size of the root ball, ideally followed by a layer of good quali...