Bougainville Wings has taken delivery of its first Cessna (single turboprop) C208B ahead of the official launch of the new carrier by the president of the Autonomous Bougainville Government, Ishmael Toroama.
“The aviation industry in Bougainville has long-awaited progress, and we are looking forward to expanding this significant beginning,” Toroama said during an event at Buka airport.
P2-BWL (msn 208B0082) was ferried to Buka from Port Moresby, via Rabaul, on April 19-20, 2026, ADS-B data shows. The aircraft was previously imported to Papua New Guinea, the parent state of Bougainville, in June-August 2025, ferrying from Akron Regional via multiple stops in the United States and the Pacific. According to FAA records reviewed by ch-aviation, the C208B is on lease from J.R.’s Sky, a US-based lessor.
The start-up is a 70/30 joint venture between the local government, which is currently in the transition to independent statehood following the 2019 referendum, and Outback Aviation. The latter is a privately owned logistics and agriculture firm headquartered in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, which does not hold an air operator’s certificate.
Bougainville Wings claims to have received a “certificate of airworthiness” in December 2025, although it is unclear if that documentation pertains solely to the C208B or is also an AOC for the start-up. The local government said that it would use the aircraft to improve the connectivity within the ABG, including providing new services to remote destinations such as Nissan Island, Buin, Torokina, and the outlying atoll islands.
Following the 2019 referendum, in which over 98% of voters favoured independence, and the subsequent 2021 agreement with the government of Papua New Guinea, Bougainville should become an independent state by 2027. However, the necessary law has yet to be approved by the PNG parliament. The region currently relies on connectivity provided by PNG carriers, such as Air Niugini and PNG Air.
