CPA rakes in $676K in terminal fees

Northwest Airlines and Japan Airlines proved to be the promptest air carriers in remitting passenger facility charges collected during the fee’s first six months of implementation.

As of June 30, 2005, the Commonwealth Ports Authority has received $676,434 in total PFC collections from airlines. More than two-thirds of this amount came from Northwest, which has remitted $255,285, and JAL, which has paid $229,738, to CPA.

Northwest has daily flights from Saipan to Tokyo and Nagoya, as well as a code-share agreement with Freedom Air. JAL has daily service from Saipan to Tokyo and Osaka.

Continental has forwarded $92,481 in PFC collections to CPA. The airline flies from Saipan six times daily to Guam, three times weekly to Manila, and twice weekly to Hong Kong and Taipei.

Asiana, which operates daily Saipan-Seoul service, has submitted $90,351 in PFCs to the ports authority.

The terminal fee was implemented starting Jan. 1, 2005. Airline companies collect the fee through sold airline tickets. CPA receives PFC revenues as they are remitted by the carriers. Airlines are not billed, but they are subject to audit.

Based on CPA statistics, 297,435 passengers have since departed from the Saipan International Airport alone.

At a rate of $4.50 per passenger, PFC collections for the Saipan airport should have now totaled nearly $1.34 million. However, only $668,291 of the airlines’ collections has been forwarded to CPA at the end of June 2005.

Total PFC collections from passengers departing from the Rota airport amounted $7,873, while collections from Tinian passengers reached only $270.

CPA, which was authorized by the federal government to collect PFC from 2005 through 2016, had projected to collect $33.44 million over the 11-year period.

About $29.92 million in PFC revenues is expected to be gathered from Saipan airport passengers from 2005 through 2016. The FAA-approved collection amounts for Rota and Tinian airports are $1.80 million and $1.72 million respectively.

The passenger facility charge is similar to terminal/departure fees that are being collected in most airports abroad. It applies to both international and inter-island flights departing from any CNMI airport.

PFC revenues would provide the 10-percent matching fund required of CPA for its airport improvement projects under the FAA and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Funds generated through the passenger facility charge would also help CPA service debts it had incurred for previous airport improvement projects.