During yesterday’s general membership meeting of the Marianas Visitors Authority at the Hyatt Regency, Continental Airlines Inc. managing director Charles Duncan said their Boeing 737 will provide flights from Saipan to Narita, Japan from July 18 to Sept. 23.
Duncan said the 155-seat Boeing 737 will be based here for 65 days and will go on daily flights from Narita to Saipan at 9:25 a.m. and 9 p.m., and flights from Saipan to Narita at 5:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m.
“We are excited to be back — we will see how it works and we hope that this will be the beginning of more good things to come,” he said.
“There are a lot of uncertainties right now, but we hope to offer non-stop flights to Asia…if we can build a business case for them. We will remain committed even in the current environment,” Duncan said.
Passengers for the Narita-Saipan flights can book their reservations through Continental Airline’s Web site, www.continental.com.
Duncan said Cape Air will remain their primary link to the CNMI in providing five to six flights a day to Guam.
Continental will also continue providing Rota charter flights which began in April last year, he added.
He said in 2008, there were 23 charter flights to Rota, and 22 in 2009.
Swine flu impact
Duncan said the H1N1 virus or swine flu has a “massive impact” on the flights of Continental from China, Hong Kong and Japan.
Last month, Duncan said they cancelled 36 round-trip flights to various destinations due to low demand.
For July, the airlines has already cancelled 17 flights.
He said the swine flu has greatly reduced their bookings.
Even bookings for Japan’s Golden Week celebration dipped by 10 percent as a result of the swine flu scare.
The end of April through around May 5 is Japan’s Golden Week — it is the longest vacation period of the year for many Japanese.
Senate President Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, said he was glad that Continental was returning to the island.
Reyes recalled that he and other commonwealth leaders felt bad when Continental Airlines terminated its flights from Saipan.
He said Continental’s managers “did not possess the kind of skills that would have maintained good relationship with the CNMI.”
But Duncan seems to understand the value of diplomacy with the leaders of the commonwealth and its people, Reyes said.
“I am pleased with this effort. This is a major step in repairing the damage in our relationship,” he added.
