PORT MORESBY to CAIRNS (POM-CNS) on Air Niugini Fokker 100 in economy class
Immigration and security were both quick with no lines. There was no signage about liquids restrictions. I was told at security I could enter the departures area with my water bottle, but I had to drink it before boarding.
There were lots of seats, apparently it gets busy to standing room only when the Brisbane and Sydney flights leave close together. 1 shop which was closed when I arrived but later opened, ditto for a takeaway food outlet (I don't think you can call it a cafe if there are no seats?).
A roaming Australian immigration officer came by and asked some questions - my odd itinerary had drawn attention to me. I'm not sure why Australian immigration people were wandering the Port Moresby airport - would seem to be out of jurisdiction to me.
The departures area quickly filled up. Although there were plenty of empty seats the close packed nature meant it seemed very full. Certainly the flight back was going to be chockers, no spare seats at all. This didn't surprise me - lots of business people heading back to Australia for the weekend, and this plus an Airlines PNG flight to Cairns at the same time, were the last flights out. The earlier flights to Brisbane and Sydney would only allow half a day at work, and perhaps not so many connection options from remoter places. (I've read that some of the small airports in Papua New Guinea are the least connected airports in the world, in that it takes many separate flights to get out of the country.)
Boarding was delayed a short while. Stairs to the tarmac, fortunately not raining. The sun set rapidly as we boarded. By the time we left it was dark and I was on the left side with rural views on take off, ie nothing visible.
I dozed a bit and missed dinner, which was similar to the lunch. We arrived late and used the same airbridge - the one furthest from immigration. Just before immigration we passed by a thermal camera and half a dozen staff donned in gowns and surgical masks as if everyone was about to infect them with something terribly serious. I take that back - they looked more like soap actors standing around looking serious. I half expected some to run past screaming "doctor come quickly".
I'd forgotten that Cairns also has smartgate so while other passengers stampeded for the manned immigration desks I calmly went through. With no checked bags I reached customs before any customs agent was ready. When she arrived I handed over the customs and health declaration forms. My carryon was xrayed and I was grilled for a while about my odd itinerary. So much for getting through quickly, but at least smartgate saved another passport stamp.