Guangzhou charters to resume in June

The Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino will resume charter flights from Guangzhou, China, starting June this year, according to hotel manager Tom Liu.

He said Tinian Dynasty board chair Michael Kwan made the decision yesterday.

The company terminated the Guangzhou charters in September last year due to high fuel costs and the downturn in the Chinese economy.

The charter flights will resume on June 15 through the end of November 2009.

The company, Liu said, may continue the flights beyond the original schedule, depending on the final rules that will be issued on the visa waiver program.

The Department of Homeland Security has delayed by 180 days the federal immigration transition in the CNMI, along with the enforcement of the June 1 visa waiver program that excludes the China and Russia markets. The CNMI government is pushing for the inclusion of Chinese and Russian tourists in the program.

Liu said that Kwan had discussed with China Southern Airlines a plan for the carrier to permanently fly to the CNMI.

“Finally, with the reasonable fuel prices and signs of recovery in China’s economy, Tinian Dynasty Travel decided to take this aggressive effort to charter the twice weekly flights again,” Liu said.

He said the Guanghzou charters will use a Boeing 757 jet with seating capacity of 200 and will fly every Monday and Friday weekly.

He disclosed that Kwan also signed an agreement with China Southern to operate an Airbus 330 aircraft with a seating capacity of 264 from July 15 to Aug. 20, 2009, during the school holiday period.

In addition to the Guangzhou charters, Liu said the company is also negotiating with Air China to start twice-weekly charters from Beijing.

This negotiation is also in collaboration with its partner, Century Tours.

Liu disclosed that Shanghai Airlines will also add two extra weekly flights from mid-July through end of August this year.

13K Chinese visitors in next 7 months

With the additional charters from the China market, Tinian Dynasty estimates an additional 13,000 Chinese visitors to come to the CNMI in the next seven months.

He said the company had also asked the Marianas Visitors Authority to re-start promotional and advertising efforts in the southern region of China to promote the Guangzhou flights.

Additional funds are also being sought from MVA for the Northern China market in preparation for the Beijing flights.

Currently, Tinian Dynasty is getting two Shanghai Airlines flights from Shanghai each week. Each flight has 222 seats shared equally by Century Tours and Tinian Dynasty Travel.

MVA earlier said that some 40,000 tourists from China and Russia are expected this year. The CNMI welcomed about 27,000 Chinese visitors and about 7,000 Russian visitors in calendar year 2008.