LOCAL authorities are still hoping that Mandarin Airline would resume its flight service to Saipan.
Commonwealth Ports Authority Executive Director Carlos H. Salas says local officials are discussing the resumption of the Taiwan airline’s flights to Saipan.
“We continue to tap the Taipei market. We are trying to revive the services of Mandarin Airline,” he said in an interview.
The airline suspended its operations on Saipan in March last year primarily due to lack of passengers.
It reportedly incurred over $.5 million in losses during its last five months of operations.
The airline stopped its twice-a-week direct flight service to Saipan 11 months after it began the operations.
The airline’s parent company, China Airlines, earlier planned to resume operations by mid-June last year, but it had be to shelved due to signs of “disinterest” among Taiwanese tourists.
Mandarin Airline made its last flight from Saipan on March 20 with 153 passengers, mostly the crew and staff who were on a familiarization tour.
The company reportedly lost some $12,000 per round-trip to the CNMI since Nov. 2000 when its charter flight contract with Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino was terminated.
Salas said the government continues to explore ways to attract other airlines from different destinations to offer direct flights to the CNMI.
He said a possible direct flight from Hong Kong and other key cities in Asia is also being considered.
“We’re working closely with different airlines,” Salas said.
