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Aviation Task Force eyes new discussion with Far Eastern Air
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Posted on Jul 23 1999
The Governor’s Aviation Task Force has renewed its invitation to the Far Eastern Air Transport to begin its Taipei-Saipan direct flight after it expressed interest in servicing the island.
Aviation Task Force Chairman J.M. Guerrero said he believes that the airline will be successful in its bid to regularly ferry visitors from Taiwan, similar to China Airlines’ twice a week chartered flights to Guam.
In a letter to Capt. Y.L. Lee, board chairman of Far Eastern Air, Guerrero asked the airline official for his schedule in connection with the planned visit to Saipan.
Guerrero visited Taipei in November 1998 during which he met with officials of Richmond International Travel & Tours Co., the airline’s official tour company, which in the past has expressed interest in going to Saipan with the staff of Far Eastern Air to survey the island’s facilities.
Far Eastern Air has earlier planned to begin its Taipei-Saipan direct service but decided to postpone because of the Asian financial crisis.
The Marianas Visitors Authority has been eyeing Taiwan as an alternative market in view of the decline in arrivals from Japan and Korea as a result of the currency crunch in Asia. Arrival records from Taiwan have been encouraging, but the lack of regular direct flight from Taipei-Saipan has affected the steady increase of arrivals from Taiwan.
Although MVA has yet to establish a representative office in Taipei, tourism officials have been planning to increase the visibility of the CNMI there because Taiwan was hardly affected by the region-wide economic crisis.
MVA Board Chairman Dave M. Sablan said the challenge for tourism officials is to entice the airlines to increase air seats and generate enough demand for the other airlines to come in.
The beleaguered Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino has been negotiating with Continental Micronesia for a Taipei-Tinian direct service. However, the airline claims it will only do so if a fuel facility is installed in the island-municipality.
