Kilili urges Buttigieg to act on previous request to lift cap on flights between China, territories

Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) has urged U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to act on his previous request to exempt the CNMI from DOT’s order that caps the number of scheduled passenger flights between China and the U.S. and its territories.

DOT’s Part 213 Order 2023-6-1 limits the number of passenger flights from China to the entire United States to a little over 24 flights a month.

Sablan said in his recent letter to Buttigieg that scheduled Chinese flights to the Marianas should already be exempt from any limitations on the number of flights between the People’s Republic of China and the United States, pursuant to Annex 6 of the U.S.-China Civil Air Transport Agreement.

Annex 6 already provides that “airlines of the People’s Republic of China may provide unlimited scheduled air service between the People’s Republic of China and Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.”

Annex 6 further provides that “air services provided…shall not be subject to limitations as to the number of designations or frequences.”

However, Sablan said, DOT’s action to limit the number of Chinese carriers flying to U.S. destinations, taken in response to China’s COVID-19 restrictions, included scheduled flights to the Marianas and has not been lifted since.

Now that DOT is increasing capacity by adding more flights between the U.S. and China, the Annex 6 exemption for the Marianas should be reinstated, he said.

Sablan said the CNMI remains in a deep state of recovery following the pandemic, which in combination with recent historic natural disasters, has cripped the Commonwealth’s infrastructure and economy.

He said members of the community remain concerned that the ailing economy will continue to languish and may not recover until access to Chinese tourism is regained.

“This could only happen when direct scheduled flights from China finally resume, as allowed under the provisions of Annex 6,” said the delegate as he urged Buttigieg to resolve the matter promptly.

Last Jan. 24, Sablan wrote Buttigieg to support the Commonwealth Ports Authority’s application for an exemption from the DOT’s Part 213 Order that restricts the number of scheduled passenger flights between China and the U.S.

Chinese tourists reportedly accounted for 38% of all visitors to the CNMI prior to the pandemic and their spending contributed significantly to the economy.

Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan