THE Commonwealth Ports Authority board of directors wants the CNMI exempted from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s order that limits the number of round-trip weekly flights from China to the U.S. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, China was the CNMI’s second largest tourism market.
In an emergency meeting at the Francisco Manglona Borja/Tinian Airport on Friday, the board unanimously voted to instruct CPA Executive Director Christopher Tenorio to clarify with the Federal Aviation Administration if Annex VI of the U.S.-China bilateral agreement is unaffected by the limitations imposed by an order issued by USDOT on Aug. 11, 2023.
Annex VI exempts the CNMI from flight frequency limitations between the U.S. and China. The USDOT order limits to 24 the number of weekly round-trip passenger flights between the U.S. and China effective Oct. 29, 2023.
The affected airlines are Air China, Beijing Capital Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines.
The CPA board held an emergency meeting in light of USDOT’s issuance of the order, and the interest of an airline company in China to provide flights to Saipan.
In an interview after the meeting, CPA Board Chairwoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds said they instructed their counsel to seek technical legal assistance in pursuing an exemption from USDOT’s order “so that any hindrance to the return of the China market is removed.”
“We have received interest from several of our airline partners who previously served that market, and the board is taking this action to exhaust all efforts to generate revenue,” King-Hinds said.
“This was a common-sense business decision. If there are more airlines, fees at the airport go down, and if the fees go down, travel fares will be cheaper,” she added.
King-Hinds said the exemption is especially beneficial to travelers from Rota and Tinian “who are being priced out of receiving medical attention because of the increase in rates.”
She said the board’s decision is also consistent with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s recent statement that restoring travel between the U.S. and China is a significant win to the U.S. travel industry.
“We have an obligation as board members to keep finding a solution and this is a viable solution given the clear interest from airlines in returning but for this hurdle,” King-Hinds added, referring to USDOT’s order.
