Good airline news this time

Seeing a bigger potential in its Manila route, Continental Micronesia has decided to resume its three-times-a-week flights between Saipan and the Philippines.

Continental Micronesia president and chief executive officer Mark A. Erwin said in a statement yesterday that the airline will bring back its Tuesday flight in addition to the current Thursday and Sunday flights.

“The new Tuesday flight…[offers] customers more travel options between Saipan and the Philippines. We’re very pleased to be able to offer this additional service to our valued customers,” said Erwin.

He said flight times will remain the same.

Saipan-Manila flights leave at 6:15pm and arrive at 7:15pm while the Manila-Saipan plane departs the Asian country’s capital at 10:05pm and arrive on the island at 3:40am.

Although visitors arrival from Manila has declined by over 50 percent this year compared with last year’s, the route is considered profitable owing to the presence of a big Filipino community, consisting mainly of nonresident workers, on island.

Likewise, a good number of local residents also make frequent visits to the Philippines for leisure, business, and medical purposes.

Both groups do not count as visitors in arrival statistics.

In related developments, Continental Micronesia staff vice president for sales and marketing Wally Dias clarified yesterday that jet service between Guam and Saipan will only be suspended in January 2006 on days that do not have Manila flights.

It means that the airline’s Boeing 737-800 will still fly between Guam and Saipan on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.

“Well still be operating jet service between Guam and Saipan on the days that the Manila service is operating. We’re not completely suspending jet service between Guam and Saipan,” he said.

The same plane carries passengers for the Guam-Saipan-Manila route.

The airline’s new jet service schedule between Guam and Saipan, which takes effect in early January 2006, is part of cost-saving measures in view of rising fuel costs.

The airline has outlined plans of action to be implemented beginning this year to ensure its solvency.

These include the termination of Guam-Saipan-Taipei flights effective Nov. 1, 2005 and the dropping of Saipan from its Hong Kong route effective Nov. 7, 2005.

It cited high fuel costs and poor traffic in the Taipei route. For the Hong Kong route, it cited small traffic between Hong Kong and Saipan, a rigid screening process on Saipan for Guam-bound passengers, and high fuel costs.

Continental said that majority of Hong Kong customers choose Guam over Saipan as their primary destination, justifying its decision to just keep a direct Guam-Hong Kong flight.

In August 2005, the Guam Visitors Bureau listed 489 visitors from Hong Kong.