On Sunday, about 7:30 p.m., the power went out at the airport and it wasn’t until 8:15 p.m. when the departure gates were opened for the mostly Japanese tourists.
Sunday’s power outage affected 46 passengers of Continental Airlines bound for Guam.
Thirty-eight more passengers of Continental were stranded yesterday when the power went off at the airport at about 2:20 p.m. It was only until 3:35 when the processing for the departing passengers could begin.
A long line of mostly Japanese tourists were seen outside the airport’s lobby fanning themselves and drinking bottled water.
Also stranded were some 150 Northwest Airlines passengers, who were also mostly Japanese.
The Northwest Osaka flight was scheduled for departure at 4:20 but passengers had to check in at least an hour earlier.
The power outage yesterday also affected the Northwest flight to Narita scheduled at 4:45 p.m.
An Asiana Airlines flight was also affected by the blackout but details weren’t available as of press time yesterday.
Commonwealth Ports Authority acting Executive Director Lee Cabrera yesterday said CUC had yet to inform them about the causes of these power outages.
But Cabrera said any unscheduled power outage affecting the airport was likely caused by an emergency situation.
Since tourism is the CNMI’s main industry, he added, tourists should be spared from these “inconveniences.”
Six hours or more
Yesterday’s unscheduled power outages lasted six hours or more in Garapan and other areas on island.
“We are experiencing more than five hours of power outage today — where’s the three-hour outage that they promised?” a Garapan resident said.
He said they also had no water for five days already.
On Friday, CUC power division acting manager Gary P. Camacho said only Engines 3 and 6 were operational.
But Variety learned yesterday that only one engine at Power Plant 1 had been operational since Saturday afternoon.
Engine 6, which was installed in 1989 and is capable of producing 13 megawatts, is generating 5 megawatts only, Variety was told.
“We are not sure if Engine 6 can maintain its power generation since it needs extensive repair works,” a CUC source said, adding that Power Plant 4, with a 14.7-megawatt capacity, now has to supply Saipan’s power demand.
Neither CUC Executive Director Antonio S. Muna nor Camacho could be reached for comment yesterday.
Engines 2 and 8 at Power Plant 1 had been down since Friday and Engine 6, which was running since Saturday afternoon, “is not reliable,” Variety was told.
