JAL to deploy 7 extra flights to Saipan

Japan Airlines is planning to deploy seven additional flights from major cities in the country to Saipan in response to the anticipated increase in the demand for airline seats during the holidays, according to sales manager Yasuyoshi Kinoshita.

In an interview yesterday, Mr. Kinoshita disclosed the airline company is deploying three extra flights, in addition to its regular air transport services, from Nagoya and Fukuoka in Japan to the Northern Marianas this month.

JAL is also dispatching four additional flights from Kansai, Nagoya and Fukuoka in December in anticipation of the increase in the number of Saipan-bound travelers from Japan during the holiday season.

The airline executive added JAL intends to use either a Boeing 767 aircraft, which can seat up to 230 passengers, or DC-10 airplane that can accommodate up to 260 passengers in all of its additional flights from the Japanese cities to Saipan.

“We are hoping that the extra flights this month and in December will be deployed on a close to a hundred percent load factor. We are confident we are going to be flying on a high load factor,” he told an interview.

Japan Airlines has been consistently flying between major cities in the country and Saipan on a high load factor as it deployed aircraft that are about 85 to 90 percent filled with passengers.

JAL has dispatched three additional flights from two heavily-populated Japanese cities — Kansai and Nagoya — in September, ferrying close to 600 passengers to Saipan.

Two of the three extra flights were deployed from Nagoya while one ferried passengers from Kansai, said Mr. Kinoshita, pointing out that the additional services were spurred by stronger demand in September which has more national holidays in Japan.

During the same month, the Japanese flag carrier ferried almost 12,000 passengers between Tokyo and the Northern Marianas, and brought in close to 6,000 visitors from Kansai and Osaka in its regular daily flights.

The Tokyo-based airline company provides daily flight each from Tokyo and Nagoya to Saipan. JAL has also scheduled four extra flights originating out of Nagoya and Kansai to Saipan in October.

JAL will be deploying DC-10 aircraft in all of the four charter flights which are expected to provide an additional 1,124 airline seats for Japanese travelers to the Northern Marianas.

The charter services are schedule to depart Nagoya and Kansai on October 7, 2000, and then again on October 9, 2000, according to a flight schedule submitted by JAL to the Commonwealth Ports Authority.

JAL has consistently stood firm on its commitment to continuously help facilitate the recovery of the Northern Marianas’ tourism industry from a catastrophic slump by dispatching additional flights whenever the demand calls for it.

The airline company believes in the potentials of Saipan being an attractive destination as manifested by JAL’s heavy investment in the island that include a hotel and a shopping complex.

JAL has direct Japan-Saipan-Japan flights every day, which have been very effective in encouraging more travels among Japanese tourists to the Northern Marianas.