Tinian Dynasty wants to develop jet fuel tank farm

Anticipating the influx of international flights on Tinian, Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino wants to invest some $1 million in developing a jet fuel tank farm.

Tinian Dynasty chairman Michael Kwan said losses of the casino hotel due to low tourist arrivals and the hesitation of Mobil Oil to build the fueling facility prompted the company to consider the venture.

“CPA [Commonwealth Ports Authority] has invested more than $23 million to expand the Tinian runway. However, there is still no international airline servicing Tinian,” Kwan said. “Besides the need to have ILS [Instrument Landing System] at the airport, the other major requirement is the refueling facility.”

The Tinian Mayor’s Office has been pushing for the expedited implementation of the ILS facility at the Tinian airport to prepare the latter for direct international flights. The CPA board approved Thursday the start of a bidding process for the installation of an ILS facility at the Tinian airport.

Other casino investors on the island also look forward to international flights before they begin business operations.

Tinian Dynasty wants to use 30,000 square feet of land at the Tinian Harbor to develop a jet fuel tank farm. Its affiliate company, Tinian Shipping and Transportation, Inc., had entered into a lease agreement with the CPA regarding the land. The shipping company has reportedly not used the land yet.

“Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino is considering using this land to build a jet fuel storage facility in anticipation of direct flights into Tinian airport. We are requesting that CPA allow us to use this parcel of land for fuel storage purpose rather than for ferry maintenance as stated in the original lease agreement,” the hotel’s Kwan said, in a letter to CPA executive director Lee Cabrera.

As part of the proposal, Tinian Dynasty also asked CPA to reconsider adjusting the rental fee “to allow us 20 years of free rental and reasonable rent for the remaining years of the lease in order to recover the investment of fueling facility.”

The casino hotel also wants CPA’s approval of its plan to later relocate the proposed jet fuel tank farm to a vacant lot near Mobil’s fuel facility.

“We fully understand that Mobil’s reluctance to invest in such a facility with the uncertainty of the number of flights to Tinian. Thus, not only [will] jet fuel prices be high, which will make it difficult for airlines to fly into Tinian, but [the low flight turnout will] also [make it] hard for Mobil to recover [its] investment,” Kwan said. “However, we don’t have much choice but to bring in direct flights to Tinian to sustain our business.”

The CPA board has yet to act on the casino hotel’s request regarding the proposed jet fuel tank farm project.

Tinian Dynasty charters the China Southern Airlines for two flights weekly from Guangzhou. It partners with Century Tours in chartering two China Eastern Airlines flights weekly from Shanghai. The charters by TDHC and Century Tours bring in a total of four Chinese flights from China every week.

The casino hotel’s affiliate company, Taga Air Charter Services, wants to upgrade its services and plans to become an international airline that will eventually bring in direct flights to Tinian.