NWA to suspend Osaka-Saipan service in March

Not even a week after Asian Airlines welcomed its inaugural Osaka-Saipan flight comes news that Northwest Airlines will be stopping its own service to the route starting March 1, 2009.

Northwest Airlines Guam and Saipan general manager Richard A. Parsons confirmed the decision in an e-mail to the Saipan Tribune.

“Unfortunately yes, Osaka-Saipan will be suspended March 1, 2009, in response to the global economic recession and softening customer demand,” he said.

But Parsons said the decision to suspend the service does not mean that Northwest Airlines has lost faith in the CNMI as a destination for tourists from Japan.

“We remain committed to the Saipan market by continuing daily services from Nagoya and Narita and one stop service from Osaka via Narita. We will review this market again as economic conditions improve,” he added.

Marianas Visitors Authority managing director Perry Tenorio said the shelving of the route is a blow to the Commonwealth’s tourism industry.

“The decision of the NWA will have a significant negative economic implication to the CNMI despite the presence of Asiana Airlines,” he said.

In a memo sent last week to Gov. Benigno R. Fitial about revenue sources for Fiscal Year 2009, Finance Secretary Eloy S. Inos quoted an MVA report that Northwest Airlines’ Osaka-Saipan route contributes approximately $112 million into the CNMI economy.

He said the direct government revenue loss from the termination of this direct air service will amount to at least $3.5 million.

Northwest Airlines first temporarily suspended its Osaka-Saipan flight on Oct. 28, 2006, also as a result of low profitability on the route. It revived the daytime service on Dec. 20, 2007.

The carrier’s Osaka-Saipan flight was first launched in October 2005, and was well received by Japanese travelers from Osaka, flying consistently 80-100 percent full.

Severe price competition from Osaka flights to other destinations such as Guam, however, and the decision by Northwest Airlines and major travel agents to price the Osaka-Saipan flight at a very aggressive low seat price resulted in the Osaka flight not being profitable for Northwest.

Northwest Airlines is one of the world’s largest airlines with hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam, and approximately 1,400 daily departures. Northwest Airlines is a member of SkyTeam, an airline alliance that offers customers one of the world’s most extensive global networks. Northwest Airlines and its travel partners serve more than 900 cities in excess of 160 countries on six continents.

Last April Northwest Airlines agreed to a stock-swap merger with Delta Air Lines that created the world’s biggest carrier.