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Teno asks Northwest to service Nagoya-Saipan route
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Posted on Aug 19 1999
Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has asked Northwest Airlines to provide a direct Nagoya-Saipan service to help the CNMI recover its lost market share in Japan., as he expressed optimism that such move would help revive the island’s ailing tourism economy.
While expressing his appreciation to the airline’s decision to use a B747 for its Narita-Saipan flight beginning October 1999, there is still a need to increase direct seat inventory to the CNMI, Tenorio wrote to Jun Mokudai, vice president of Northwest Airlines.
Currently there are 8,122 airline seats from Japan on a weekly basis, which is a 21 percent less compared to the previous year. With the impending termination of the Saipan-Nagoya route by Continental Airlines, the Commonwealth stands to lose some 1,323 weekly seats from Japan.
Continental, the largest carrier in the region, has drastically reduced its direct flights from Saipan to various destinations in Japan in order to pare down its losses in Micronesia. The recent reduction in direct service was in April 1999, when it terminated its Osaka-Saipan route.
Tourism operators have expressed disappointment on the lack of direct service from Saipan to other destinations in CNMI’s main source of visitors, making it difficult for them to market the island as tourists still have to wait for a connecting flight in Guam.
Battered by Asia’s financial crisis, the island’s half-a-billion dollar tourism industry has been having difficulty competing with other destinations in Asia which are offering cheaper tour packages.
As tourist arrivals from Japan has yet to fully recover, Japan Airlines has continuously carried out its own promotional campaign by offering charter flights and even reducing its fare early this year to entice more Japanese to Saipan.
An in-flight video featuring the CNMI’s scenic spots and golf courses is being shown in all of JAL’s domestic and international flights.
