The Commonwealth Ports Authority is excited for Marianas Southern Airways to begin flying starting this month. <\/p>\n
According to CPA board chair Kimberlyn King-Hinds, CPA is excited for MSA to begin its interisland flight service, which is tentatively supposed to begin on Aug. 12. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really excited about the new entry to the market, about an additional carrier that\u2019s going to be able to provide interisland flight service to the people of the Northern Marianas linking up all the three islands and also to Guam. It\u2019s exciting times,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
King-Hinds added that MSA\u2019s decision to launch its flights at such low, promotional rates at this time of the year is great as CNMI families now have the opportunity to fly either to Guam or Saipan to do some back-to-school shopping. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always good to have options and the fact that they are offering promotional fares for a few months. That\u2019s a very welcome added bonus for the people especially at a time where folks are thinking about going back to school shopping, we also have the holidays coming up, and so, obviously shopping is on the mind for many people and it\u2019s exciting,\u201d King-Hinds said. <\/p>\n
During last week\u2019s board meeting, the board unanimously granted MSA\u2019s application to lease CPA property to build their own hangar where they will store their new airplanes. <\/p>\n
In statement from CPA chair King-Hinds, she said the approval was significant for both CPA and MSA as it ultimately is an investment for the people of the Marianas. <\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we do have typhoon seasons out here, you want to keep your planes out of the elements and properly secure them so that\u2019s an investment that they want to make as part of this service that they\u2019re providing to the people of the Marianas, which we are so incredibly excited about. It\u2019s not a significant amount of money but obviously, it\u2019s more about the type of investment that Marianas Southern Air is making in the CNMI,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
The CPA chair added that the money from the lease agreement will count as non-aviation revenue, which CPA needs. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis would be non-aviation revenue, which is badly needed at this time, given the fact that we just don\u2019t have the arrivals that we were anticipating with the opening of our borders. This is one way of basically diversifying our means to be able to be self-sustainable. We have the aviation side, which we count on, and those are the landing fees, deplanement fees, etc., and then we have the non-aviation side, which is our leases and our rentals so this would go toward that,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
MSA is the CNMI\u2019s newest airline that promises to provide air-service with the ultimate goal of reconnecting the Marianas. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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