Arnold Palacios
“WE need to work and establish a better relationship with our air transportation to Tinian and Rota,” Gov. Arnold Palacios said in an interview Monday morning. He was asked to comment on Star Marianas Air’s notice of terminating its air service to Tinian and Rota by Oct. 15 due to a fee dispute with the Commonwealth Ports Authority.
“Absolutely, I am meeting with them,” Palacios added. “I reached out to Star Marianas last week to schedule a sit-down with them and have a good discussion with them.”
He said he will also talk with CPA officials and ask them “why it’s necessary for them to make that decision,” referring to CPA’s demand for payment of $1.2 million in “outstanding debts” for the use of airport facilities from Oct. 1, 2022, to May 2024.
SMA is disputing the amount.
“Let me be very frank,” the governor said, “we will try to solve this as much as I can. It goes without saying that we’re very vulnerable with the arrangements of a single provider. Whenever we have that kind of situation, it’s just not good for any community to be isolated like this. We will try our best where we can mitigate the situation,” Palacios added.
