Pacific island territory fears for tourism after Japanese airline pullout

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands, May 31 (AFP) - The US-administered Northern Mariana Islands fears its vital tourism industry will lose 85 million dollars a year following reports Japan Airlines (JAL) will suspend all of its flights between Japan and the Pacific island territory.

JAL flies 14 times a week to Saipan and accounts for more than half of around 400,000 Japanese tourists visiting the island annually, the Marianas Visitors Authority (MVA) said.

The tourist industry provides about half of all employment in the Northern Marianas and accounts for about a quarter of the economy.

Japanese reports say JAL will suspend all its flights to Saipan, the main island amongst 17 in the Northern Marianas. Saipan lies about 2,400 kilometres (1,490 miles) south of Tokyo.

The airline has not yet formally confirmed the suspension, which will reportedly take place from October.

Japanese visitors account for nearly three-quarters of the tourism industry in the Northern Marianas, the MVA says. The territory's governor, Juan N. Babauta, is scheduled to meet key executives of JAL in Tokyo in June to ask them to reconsider their decision.

He said last week he would also talk to other airlines to try to get them to fill the gap left by JAL.

"We have began initial talks with other airlines such as Northwest Airlines and we hope that we can interest them in filling in the vacuum that Japan Airlines will create," Babauta said last week.

A petition is being circulated in Saipan, which has a population of about 65,000 people, to ask JAL to reverse its decision.

What's the reason for the supposed pullout? Seems to me that carrying 200,000 passengers per year isn't bad. I mean they can just lessen the frequency if they're losing money on that route.

Japan Airlines Corp. will stop all of its flights between Japan and Saipan and some other international flights from October due to their low profitability as part of an overall cost-cutting plan, airline sources said.

What other carriers are flying there and what airports do they fly from?

Yups, Indeed.

I think Korean Air pulled out sometime last year or so and I think Asiana Airlines still has flights everyday from Seoul Incheon Airport.

Continental Micronesia has twice weekly service between Saipan and Hong Kong (CO 909 + 910) as well as Guam.

Saipan's welcoming spirit causes embarrassment
Wataru Kurihara / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
7 June 2005

Enthusiasm is growing here for the visit of the Emperor and Empress in late June, but there is a gulf between the welcoming mood of Saipan residents and the Japanese government's intention to ensure the Imperial visit is a solemn commemoration of the war dead.

The elderly population on the island hold special feelings toward the Imperial visit. Ruled by Japan for 30 years before the end of World War II, Saipanese children were taught Japanese language and culture.

They were taught to bow every morning toward the north where the Imperial Palace is located under a policy of forcing Japanese customs on the islanders. They were discriminated against as third-rate Japanese citizens. But islanders aged 80 or older can still speak Japanese, and many of them hold a positive impression of Japan.

Trinida Deleon Guerrero, 82, cherishes a school graduation picture. "The days under Japanese rule before the war and before the battle of Saipan were happy days for the islanders," she said. "I thought I was Japanese [as people under Japanese rule were considered subjects of the Emperor]. I'd like to have a look at the Emperor and Empress."

On the other hand, many families of Japanese residents who died on the island during the war hold mixed feelings toward the visit. Komei Ishiki, 75, of Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, who lost his aunt in the battle of Saipan, was visiting the island to console her spirit.

"Most of the immediate families of the war dead have already died. I wish the visit of Emperor and the Empress had been realized earlier," he said.

The government of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, of which Saipan is the capital, has wholeheartedly welcomed the official visit of the Emperor and Empress, taking it as an opportunity to make the islands better known to the world. There have been strong calls among the islanders for using the visit as a chance to attract more Japanese tourists.

Daily newspaper The Mariana Variety has featured stories about the visit, including running pictures of the Imperial couple on the front page twice. The government plans to issue about 2,000 small Japanese flags for islanders to wave along the roads to welcome the Emperor and Empress.

But a Japanese government official was cautious about the islanders' enthusiasm, saying: "The objective of the visit is not to deepen the friendship, but to console the spirits of the war dead. It will be perplexing if the welcoming mood escalates too much."

Meanwhile, islanders are worried about a Japan Airlines plan to suspend regular flights between Japan and Saipan.

JAL operates a direct daily return flight to Saipan from Narita and Kansai airports. But the airline will suspend the flights from autumn citing lack of profitability, leaving Northwest Airlines's flights from Narita Airport as the only direct service.

Tourism is a vital industry on the islands, with the 400,000 Japanese tourists that visit each year accounting for 70 percent of all tourists.

Gov. Juan Babauta visited Japan on June 1 and asked JAL to reconsider the suspension of flights.

Vice Gov. Diego Benavente said: "While local people are looking forward to the visit, the flight suspension plan worries them. We have no choice but to pray to God that the direct flights continue."

Japanese tourist numbers slump in Northern Marianas

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands, July 25, 2006 (AFP) - The number of Japanese tourists visiting the Northern Mariana Islands has slumped 25 percent in the nine months to June following the cancellation of scheduled Japan Airlines flights to the western Pacific territory.

A total of 207,575 Japanese visited the US-affiliated islands in the nine month period, down 70,256 from the same period a year earlier, the Marianas Visitors Authority (MVA) said Tuesday.

The decline, following the cancellation of twice daily flights between the main island Saipan and Tokyo since October last year, has cost the struggling Northern Marianas economy an estimated 116 million US dollars, the MVA said.

At the same time, increasing numbers of tourists from South Korea and China have helped cushion the impact.

A total of 38,510 tourists arrived in the Northern Marianas in June, which was down 10.76 percent from a year earlier, MVA acting managing director Tess Castro said.

But arrivals from South Korea in June jumped 48 percent to 7,440.

Castro said the MVA has been targeting promotions at the South Korean market.

Tourism has been a mainstay of the Northern Marianas economy and the Japanese decline has hurt badly. The other pillar of the economy is the garment industry, which has also been in a slump.

What other carriers are flying there and what airports do they fly from?


Ah I believe I can answer this question since I use to live there.

Airlines that use to or still flying to Saipan are as follow

JAL(pending of pulling out)
JAA
Asiana
Korean Air (not anymore)
United Airlines (not anymore)
Continental Air Micronesia
Northwest
ANA
China Southern Airlines

Saipan's economy has been real bad ever since the Asian financial crisis. Japanese tourist use to be the most then followed by Koreans. Now tourist from Chinese mainland took over, but economy is still bad thanks to the governor.

Japan Airlines pullout bites into Northern Marianas tourism

SAIPAN, Northern Marianas, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - Visitors to tourism reliant Northern Marianas have slumped to their lowest level in 10 years as the loss of Japan Airlines flights takes hold, according to figures released Monday.

Only 395,360 tourists visited the US territory in the western Pacific in the year to September 30, down 11 percent on the previous year, the Marianas Visitors Authority said.

It is the first time in 10 years that tourist arrivals in the tropical holiday spot have dipped below 400,000 with the slump largely attributed to Japan Airlines dropping its 14 weekly flights to Saipan in late 2005.

Declining Japanese traffic was reflected in the September figures when arrivals from Japan fell to 12,794 from 22,550 in the same month a year ago.

"These continue to be difficult times for the CNMI (Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands) with our number one source market (Japan) decreasing by 43 percent," Visitor Authority Managing Director Perry Tenorio said.

The only international airline now offering a Japan-Saipan service is US-based Northwest Airlines which recently downsized from a Boeing 747 to a smaller aircraft on the route with a loss of 130 seats daily.

The Northern Marianas, which has a population of about 80,000, is heavily reliant on tourism and the garment industry.

In addition to its tourism slump, at least 15 garment factories have closed since 2005 when the global textile trade was liberalised with the end of a quota system.

Saipan should target more Chinese, North American, Southeast Asian, and Indian tourists .. and in the same time push Continental Airlines to lauch more flights into Narita and Kansai.

October bad month for tourism in Northern Marianas
9 November 2007

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands (AP) - This U.S. commonwealth welcomed 20 percent fewer tourists last month compared with October 2006, mainly because of a steep plunge in the number of visitors arriving from Japan, tourists officials said.

Last year, 34,203 visitors came to the CNMI, compared to 27,238 last month, according to Marianas Visitors Authority Managing Director Perry Tenorio. "The leading factor in the overall arrival slump is the continued lack of airline seats out of Japan," he said.

"Japan arrivals dropped 41 percent last month, or from 21,330 visitors in October 2006 to 12,513 last month," he said.

In late 2005, Japan Airlines pulled out its 14 weekly Tokyo-Saipan flights, which accounted for nearly half of Japanese tourists flying to the islands.

Tenorio said this year is extra difficult for tourism promoters because of fewer flights serving the Saipan route from Japan.

"We knew that the last four months of this calendar year were going to be challenging," he said.

The downturn in the Japanese market has been offset in small part by more arrivals from South Korea. Last month, 8,076 South Korean tourists visited the Northern Marianas, a 39 percent increase over October 2006.

"The increase in Korean arrivals continues to allow us to offset a small portion of the Japan visitor market that we are missing," Tenorio said. "We look forward to the resumption of the Osaka-Saipan flight in December so that we can see our Japan arrival numbers increase."

October also saw fewer tourists coming from the Philippines, Guam, the U.S. mainland and Taiwan.

The Northern Mariana Islands are about 3,800 miles southwest of Hawaii.

Saipan should target more Chinese, North American, Southeast Asian, and Indian tourists .. and in the same time push Continental Airlines to lauch more flights into Narita and Kansai.


Its useless. Saipan has a bad reputation for the Chinese in China. Saipan use to have a lot of garment factories all the workers were mainland chinese and there were quite a lot of problems. The local government is corrupt and its lazy to do anything all they do is ask the US for money. Chinese these days aren't interested in spending hundreds of US dollars to fly to a tropical island when you can have more exciting places in South East Asia, Europe,Australia or the Americas. Saipan doesnt make your money worth.

U.S Government should allow more airlines from Australia, China and Japan to fly CNMI: Acting AG

06 APRIL 2009 SAIPAN (Pacnews) ---- The commonwealth government asked last week the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to allow more foreign carriers from Australia, China and Japan to serve the CNMI-route, saying its Covenant with the United States requires that the island-chain be treated as a developing country with respect to exports and trade.

Marianas Variety reports the CNMIs application for renewal and amendment of expanded air services is patterned after the territory of Guam, which also relies heavily on tourism dollars for its economy.

The amendment sought by Guam consists of eliminating the exclusion of Australia, China, and Japan. While the Australia amendment is unopposed, several carriers have opposed unilateral extrabilateral rights for carriers from the Peoples Republic of China and Japan in their Answers on the Guam docket, said acting Attorney General Gregory Baka in the application filed with the DOT.

The CNMIs tourism industry continues to struggle due to limited air seats from Japan its major market.

There are plans to sell the destination to other major potential markets like China and Australia but strict U.S. aviation rules are blocking the efforts.

The CNMI amended expanded air services request should cover carriers providing cargo, passenger, or both services.

Currently, only two international airlines have direct regular flight service to Saipan, the center of business activities in the CNMI Delta/Northwest and Asiana Airlines.

Only one China-based airline charters flights between Saipan and Shanghai every week.

Continental Micronesia, which is based on Guam, discontinued its service to the CNMI when it stopped its Manila-Saipan flights last year.

Mr Baka said compared to Guam, the CNMI faces more challenging economic circumstances due to the loss of its garment industry, lack of a U.S. military presence, a much lower level of air service, a greater loss of tourism revenues, and infrastructure shortfalls.

The CNMI does not by any means oppose the grant in full of Guams application, and indeed fully supports it given potentially increased joint tourism marketing efforts, said Mr Baka.

The commonwealth merely points out, however, that the denial of Guams requested amendment for carriers from the Peoples Republic of China and Japan should not by any means prejudice the grant of the CNMIs requested amendment, given the strong positive law in the Covenant that reflects the will of Congress, the prior grant to Alaska without limitation by country of origin and the far weaker economic condition in the CNMI that literally cries out for relief, he added.