Airlines resume flight service

Flight service at the Saipan International Airport went back to normal as winds and rains brought by Supertyphoon Chaba subsided yesterday.

Commonwealth Ports Authority executive director Carlos Salas said airlines resumed flight operations at 11am Monday, with Japan Airlines making the first flight out of Saipan.

A JAL staff member said almost 500 JAL passengers have been stranded due to the cancellation of flights during the typhoon. These passengers were able to fly back to Japan aboard two consecutive JAL flights that departed at about 4:10pm and 5:15pm yesterday. Each flight has a seat capacity of 377 passengers.

A Northwest Airlines flight arrived at 4pm, while two others were anticipated to land after midnight. Other flights were expected to depart and arrive as scheduled, Salas added.

In a press advisory sent Monday morning, Continental Airlines also expressed plans to operate service to Saipan at 1:20pm and to Rota at 1:30pm yesterday. “This schedule is dependent on airport facilities being operational for flight service,” Continental said.

Salas also reported that the Tinian International Airport opened yesterday, allowing commuter service providers such as Pacific Island Aviation and Freedom to proceed with their inter-island flights.

The airport experienced no major damage from the typhoon, according to Salas. “What we have are just regular problems associated with typhoons. There are some areas that need to be cleaned up and dried out. But apart from that, the terminal facility and the runways are all normal. It’s really the perimeters that require work because of debris,” he said.

He added that the airport has enough power supply from its own generators, as well as backup generators from CUC.

Operations at the Port of Saipan also resumed yesterday, Salas said. Damage assessment, however, are still ongoing at the Tinian and Rota docks.

Salas said he would try to fly to both islands to personally check the ports today, or as soon as the weather permits.

The CPA earlier expressed concern about the safety of vessels berthing at the Rota dock, saying that there may be a deep cavity in the dock structure, which is located only about 300 to 400 feet away from the open ocean.

The harbor, which had just been repaired following the devastation caused by Sypertyphoon Pongsona in Dec. 2002, was damaged anew when Typhoon Tingting hit the Marianas on June 28.