Air travel in Papua New Guinea was disrupted for the third day in a row on Friday as pilots protested against the Prime Minister’s refusal to step down and face fraud allegations.

The Post Courier reports hundreds of passengers were stranded at Nadzab airport in Lae yesterday due to the silent protest by Air Niugini pilots.

The state owned airline has so far refused to admit its staff are taking part in the protest organised by a civil society group of concerned citizens.

Its leader the constitutional lawyer, Moses Murray, said the protest was peaceful and was not disrupting essential services.

“I would not prefer the work strike. They have exercised their conscience not to attend work and they’re taking time out with their families, but in this group its not only the pilots. It’s the doctors it’s the nurses it’s everybody,” he said.

Mr Murray said his group would meet this weekend to decide whether to extend the stop work protest into next week.