Kosrae Lt. Gov. William Tosie said Japan Air Lines will begin charter flights to Pohnpei in April 2011.
From Pohnpei, JAL passengers seeking to visit Kosrae will be picked up by Continental Airlines which flies three times a week between Guam and Kosrae —Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
“By April next year, there will be flights flying out of Japan to Pohnpei then to Kosrae. Right now our focus is tourism,” said Tosie. “It sounds small but promising.”
Tosie said this is the first charter flights JAL will make to FSM, an independent nation made up of 607 small islands.
A former trust territory of the United Nations, FSM is made up of the states of Kosrae, Yap, Pohnpei and Chuuk. It became an independent nation in 1986 and is freely associated with the United States.
Tosie said their island is somewhat considered a fishing village as fishing is the main industry for their 10,000 people.
However, Kosrae is also known for its great diving spots and pristine beaches.
“Japanese love snorkeling and we have one of the best places for diving according to a study. We have Australians, New Zealanders and even those from the west coast, coming in to visit our island,” said Tosie.
“Saipan is beautiful but I think Japanese are tired of coming to this island,” he added.
JAL, which helped build the CNMI tourism industry through investments in a shopping mall, a major hotel, ground transportation service, among other ventures, ended its 14 weekly flights between Saipan and Tokyo in late 2005.
The airline accounted for nearly half of Japanese tourists visiting the CNMI every year.
Tosie said Kosraens are upbeat over their fledgling tourism industry.
Kosrae will host the 14th Micronesian Chief Executives’ Summit next year.
Tosie said their government will push for more collaboration among the Micronesian leaders in terms of a regional tourism industry.
“We got nowhere else to go,” he said.
