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Enplanement cost goes down 7 percent
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Posted on Jun 20 2005
Each passenger that departed from CNMI airports in the first two quarters of fiscal year 2005 cost the Commonwealth Ports Authority $14.19 to serve.
The current cost per enplaned passenger at local airports represents a decrease of $1.04—or 7 percent—compared with the first eight months of FY 2004. The reduction materialized despite a slight decline in departures, with CPA slashing its operating expenses by almost half a million dollars.
The ports authority reduced its personnel costs by $246,142 and its repairs and maintenance expenses by $173,223. Cuts were also made on contracts and professional fees ($84,609), fuel expenses ($24,472), utility costs ($18,726), supplies ($6,454), and board travel and other expenses ($4,856).
The cost per enplanement is an industry standard for determining the financial status of an airport. It is computed by dividing the airport’s total operating expenses by the number of departures.
CPA data showed that the Saipan, Rota, and Tinian airports enplaned a total of 439,904 passengers from October 2004 to May 2005, a 0.2 percent decrease from the departures in the same period the previous year.
During the first eight months of FY 2005, the CNMI airports posted total operating expenses of $6.24 million, a 7-percent cut from October 2003 to May 2004.
Nine in 10 enplaned passengers departed the Commonwealth via Saipan International Airport, while the rest used either airports on Tinian or Rota.
The enplaned passengers numbered 394,616 for Saipan; 20,088 for Rota; and 25,200 for Tinian.
With total expenses of $5.05 million, Saipan posted a cost per enplaned passenger of $12.80 for the first two quarters of the current fiscal year. This is 8 percent less than the airport’s enplanement cost last year.
Serving a passenger at the Rota airport cost almost thrice the amount at the Saipan airport. Rota, which had total expenses of $692,853, registered a cost per enplanement of $34.49.
At Tinian, the cost per enplaned passenger was $19.68. The Tinian airport incurred $495,882 in operating expenses.
