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JAL sets Oct. deadline for reservations
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Posted on Jun 03 2005
Japan Airlines informed all of its travel agencies yesterday of an October deadline for all flight reservations, even as the Governor’s Office said that the air carrier was still keeping its options open about its reported plan to pull out from Saipan.
Kunio Tomita, manager of JAL’s Saipan office, said in an advisory to JAL member travel agencies that they could only make travel arrangements until Oct. 4, 2005.
All reservations made after this date will be placed on wait-list status, Tomita said.
“Please inform your valuable customers that due to Japan Airlines International[‘s plan] to suspend our flights, we are putting all our flight reservations on hold until our Head Office will finalize our status here in the CNMI,” said Tomita.
JAL, as earlier reported, is planning to suspend all regularly scheduled flights between Japan and Saipan beginning October.
However, the Governor’s Office issued a news release on Wednesday saying that JAL was still keeping the door open for continued service to Saipan.
JAL president and chief executive officer Toshiyuki Shinmachi reportedly told Gov. Juan N. Babauta, who led a delegation of 10 CNMI government officials and business leaders to Tokyo, that a final decision would not be made until July 2005.
According to the Governor’s Office, JAL is mulling the possibility of at least continuing charter service to the Northern Marianas.
The Governor’s Office also quoted Shinmachi as saying that, even if scheduled flights were temporarily stopped, the company would continue to assess the profitability of the Saipan route and could return.
The Japan trip was organized immediately amid reports that JAL would be suspending all its flights to Saipan beginning October, due to high operational costs and low profitability.
The air carrier is expected to make a formal announcement about its plans in July.
Currently, JAL provides seven weekly DC10 flights between Narita and Saipan and seven weekly Boeing 767 flights from Kansai to Saipan.
The airline is also widely expected to cut service to Honolulu, Guam, Bali, Ho Chi Minh City, and other international destinations because of the company’s financial difficulties.
