Marianas Visitors Authority Managing Director Perry John Tenorio said they are “expecting a double-digit reduction in air seat capacity from the NMI primary markets of Japan and Korea.”
“October through December are normally the slowest season of the year for tourism and major carriers to the NMI will be cutting flights due to low demand for outbound travel in general and also for the CNMI,” Tenorio told Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, Lt. Gov. Eloy Inos and members of the MVA board of directors.
In his letter, Tenorio said Continental Airlines will no longer charter flights between Saipan and Narita, Japan starting next month.
Northwest/Delta will reduce its daily Narita-Saipan flights from Nagoya to five times a week.
This will mean a 28 percent loss of weekly air seats out of the Nagoya market.
Asiana Airlines, which provides the only flight service between Saipan and South Korea, will reduce by 75 percent its air seats next month.
“Asiana Airlines will reduce its four weekly Osaka-Saipan flights to only one, resulting to a 75 percent loss on weekly air seats to 250. We anticipated turnaround in mid-December in anticipation of the peak year-end season,” said Tenorio, adding that the CNMI should hasten the creation of an Air Service Task Force.
This task force will negotiate with the Japan Travel Bureau, Japan Airlines and Air Nippon Airways.
Inos will represent the administration on the task force which will also have two members from the MVA board.
The other members are Tenorio, Commonwealth Ports Authority Executive Director Efrain Camacho, Senate Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications Chairman Paul A. Manglona and Ivan Quichocho of the Saipan Economic Development Council.
