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JAL sets 12 charter flights in 2000
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Posted on Jan 18 2000
Inspired by the increase in travel demand from Japan to Saipan last year, Japan Airlines will carry out 12 charter flights next month to bring in more Japanese from the cities of Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka.
JAL will be using a DC 10 in the eight charters from Osaka and a B767 in two charters each from Nagoya and Fukuoka.
During the 1999 Visit the Marianas Year Campaign, JAL operated 36 charter flights from Narita, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka to Saipan as part of its assistance in promoting the island as an ideal tourist destination.
The 12 charter flights alone last year brought in a total of 7,522 passengers compared to the 7 charter flights in 1998 with a total of 1,708 passengers.
On top of this, regular flights from Tokyo and Osaka brought in a big number of tourist from Japan in 1999 or a total of 203,138 or a 122 percent jump from the previous year.
From January to December 1999, JAL ferried a total of 210,660 passengers to Saipan. Based on JAL’s record, a huge number of visitors came from Tokyo (133,646) and a lesser number of tourists arrived from Osaka (69,489).
JAL is expected to announce soon the streamlining of its operations by transferring more international routes to its subsidiary, the JALways, according to a report by the Yomiuri Shimbun.
Beginning April 1, all daily flights on the Guam routes from Narita, Kansai and Nagoya will be operated by JALways, a low-cost subsidiary which will also operate the daily Saipan route.
Japan, the island’s biggest market, did not show any growth last month based on the visitor arrivals record of the Marianas Visitors Authority as it reached only 32,080 compared to the same period in the previous year.
But the flat growth rate was attributed by MVA to the decline in ship arrivals that brought in 1,262 passengers compared to 2,232 in December 1998.
