P2-AFD flies passengers to Miyanmin during its 1st PNG tour (credit: Markus Bischoff)

On 3 June 2025, ‘P2-AFD’ – MAF’s latest addition to the fleet – made its inaugural operational flight to Tekin in northern PNG. The greatly anticipated aircraft immediately went to work, but what does it take for a small plane to serve the world’s most isolated communities? We chart P2-AFD’s incredible journey…

P2-AFD – piloted by MAF’s Markus Bischoff – landed in Tekin on 3 June. Over the next two days, the shiny new Cessna 208 Caravan transported over 90 people and more than 4.5kg of essential supplies to 22 remote airstrips around PNG’s Telefomin region.

Cargo loaded at Mount Hagen destined for isolated communities (credit: WD Kretschmer)

Excited MAF passengers land at Vanimo Airstrip (credit: Markus Bischoff)

As it returned to base in Mount Hagen on 5 June, P2-AFD clocked up more than 11 hours on its first tour, saving local communities from lugging heavy loads, and hiking for days just to access basic services.

In three days, Markus flew patients and health workers to hospital, teachers and supplies to school and vegetables to market.

MAF flies sweet potatoes to Tabubil saving farmers hours of hiking (credit: M.Bischoff)

Pilot Markus Bischoff pilots P2-AFD during its first tour of PNG (credit: Annelie Edsmyr)

Markus sums up the big impact of P2-AFD in such a small amount of time:

‘These flights are the community’s economic lifeline – they help people earn an income, pay school fees, access healthcare, and afford flights.

‘You actually see the impact. Around Telefomin, it’s about the basics – rice, education and medical care. What we do isn’t just convenient, it’s life changing!”

Markus Bischoff who piloted P2-AFD’s first operational flight

Markus drops passengers off at Bak Airstrip in northern Papua New Guinea:

One generous gift leads to another

When AFD Software – also known as ‘The Postcode People’ – reached its 40^th anniversary in 2023, company directors David and Alison Dorricott, wondered how they should celebrate.

David and Alison Dorricott (credit: Mandy Glass)

For most people, throwing a party or eating cake would suffice, but for these generous philanthropists from the Isle of Man, buying MAF a brand new £2.2 million nine-seater small plane was how they marked the occasion.

The new Cessna 208 Caravan before it’s re-registered as ‘P2-AFD’ (credit: Textron)

Long-term MAF supporter David Dorricott explains their decision:

‘It’s been a privilege to partner with MAF for decades – we know that this investment will save lives, and transform the quality of life for thousands in remote communities – what better way to celebrate such a waymark in our business?

‘We also take our hats off to the MAF pilots who fly day in, day out, year in, year out, sacrificially serving these communities. We just want to get behind them.’ 

Incredibly, this is not the first aircraft that the Dorricotts have donated to MAF. Back in 2008, they bought a Kodiak (P2-MEB) to mark AFD Software’s 25^th anniversary. This plane has been serving isolated people in Kalimantan, Indonesia, ever since.

The Dorricott’s 1st plane ‘P2-MEB’ is serving in Kalimantan (credit: Lem Malabuyo)

It was the lifesaving legacy of this first plane, which led to the Dorricotts donating a second, explains David:

‘We bought another plane because of what the first plane achieved – hundreds of people are still alive, freight has been moved to inhospitable places, infrastructure has been built, and medicines have been delivered. It’s a very high return on investment.’   

The new Cessna 208 Caravan is ‘a lifeline’

MAF’s CEO Donovan Palmer is ‘deeply grateful’ for their gift (credit: Andrew Aitchison)

MAF’s CEO Donovan Palmer, who attended AFD Software’s 40^th anniversary charity event, is deeply grateful for their generous gift:

‘It’s overwhelming and humbling to be chosen by AFD Software as their main charity partner in 2023 to celebrate their 40th anniversary. We admire them as innovators, collaborators and are so grateful to be considered friends.

‘It is tragic that millions of people still live ‘cut off’ from the basics they need to survive. This gift of a new Cessna 208 Caravan will be a lifeline for thousands of people in PNG where isolation kills every single day.

‘It will help propel MAF’s fleet into the next chapter of our mission, enabling us to reach more isolated communities with lifesaving help long into the future. From everyone at MAF, we are deeply grateful for this life-changing gift.’

In the most isolated communities of Papua New Guinea where there are no hospitals, schools, supermarkets or infrastructure, this Cessna 208 Caravan packed full of drugs, school resources, food or building materials, will make all the difference.

P2-AFD marks 40 years of AFD’s successful business (credit: Textron Aviation / Wipaire)

From US factory to MAF’s maintenance hub in Australia

Fresh off the Textron Aviation production line in Kansas, mid-west America, the new plane – originally registered as N9710M in the US – is inspected and signed off by MAF in September 2024.

N9710M fresh off the production line at Textron before flying to Mareeba (credit: Textron)

On 9 November 2024, it’s then flown or ‘ferried’ over the Pacific Ocean to Mareeba – MAF’s maintenance hub in northern Australia, which services MAF aircraft for PNG, Timor-Leste and Arnhem Land in northern Australia.

Volunteer ferry pilot couple Dylan and Val Fast fly the plane via Hawaii, Micronesia and the Solomon Islands, arriving in Mareeba nine days later on 18^th November 2024.

In February 2025, the aircraft is specifically modified to land on rugged bush airstrips on mountainsides and in jungle clearings.

MAF engineer Mirco Luck adapts the plane for PNG (credit: Janne Rytkonen)

N9710M is re-registered as ‘P2-AFD’ destined for Papua New Guinea.

The Dorricotts witness MAF’s work in PNG

Meanwhile, as their plane in Mareeba prepares for service in PNG, the Dorricotts visit the work of MAF first-hand. They fly to the remote PNG communities of Tari, Dodomona, Mougulu and Wanakipa where MAF is a lifeline.

David & Alison Dorricott meet the people of Dodomona (credit: The Dorricotts)

The flights transport passengers, food and school supplies. David Dorricott expresses his admiration for how MAF operates:

‘One of the things that has always deeply impressed us when we’ve been with MAF is the professionalism of the whole organisation.

‘Behind every plane is a whole team. When flying small planes to remote places, most people only think about the aircraft and the pilot, but actually, it takes far more than the pilot to fly the plane, and we’ve seen that with our own eyes.

‘You want to know that the engine is properly maintained, that the airframe and every airstrip has been properly assessed – and you haven’t even taken off yet! There’s a safety culture around the whole organisation.

‘When we flew over the terrain with different weather systems and runways with points of no return, we really needed to be confident that the equipment was good! The safety record of MAF is exemplary because of the excellence of the whole organisation.’

Landing on Dodomona Airstrip in the middle of the jungle (credit: The Dorricotts)

David: ‘We needed to be confident that the equipment was good.’ (credit: The Dorricotts)

One flight from Dodomona to Mougulu, which carried Mougulu Secondary School’s deputy head teacher and food, only took 10 minutes. Without MAF, it would have taken him two days to hike to the village! David sums up the experience:

‘There are no roads. We were bringing rice and tuna for them – we take these things for granted. It’s deeply humbling that those people so value the aircraft. In 10 minutes, you’re moving key personnel to the right place, so that they can do their job properly.’

Final leg – Australia to Papua New Guinea

On 2 June 2025, MAF pilot Volkher Jacobsen had the privilege of flying P2-AFD from Cairns in Australia to Mount Hagen in Papua New Guinea – its final leg before service.

MAF pilot Volkher Jacobsen lands P2-AFD at Mount Hagen (credit: Mandy Glass)

Following a 5 hour and 15 minute journey, P2-AFD touches down and is greeted with local and international excitement. Its landing is captured live for a global audience including the Dorricotts and MAF staff on the other side of the world.

P2-AFD is welcomed to PNG by MAF’s ceremonial water salute (credit: WD Kretschmer)

The new aircraft is then encircled by prayer warriors (credit: Mandy Glass)

To mark its first official landing, P2-AFD is sprayed with a water cannon as it taxis to the hangar. Shortly after MAF’s customary wet welcome, the plane is encircled by MAF staff who pray over it and dedicate it to God.

MAF’s Dom Sant: ‘This aircraft is not just a machine, it’s a lifeline.’ (credit: Mandy Glass)

Amidst the excitement, Dom Sant – MAF’s interim country director for PNG – reminds us of the significance of such an incredible gift:

‘We celebrate more than just the arrival of an aircraft. We celebrate a partnership, a shared vision and a commitment to reaching the unreachable. This aircraft, entrusted to MAF in Papua New Guinea, is not just a machine – it’s a lifeline. It’s a bridge between isolation and connection. It’s a vessel of care and impact.

‘To the Postcode People – your impact is felt. In the tears of relief when a medevac arrives, in the laughter of children going to school, and in the prayers of families who now know they are not alone, thank you.’

Dom Sant – MAF’s interim country director for PNG

P2-AFD – ready for service! (credit: Mandy Glass)

Listen out for episode 12 of the Flying for Life Podcast, which features David Dorricott – who donated P2-AFD – and pilot Dylan Fast who ferried the plane from America to Australia.

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