All Nippon Airways to fly to CNMI

All Nippon Airways will operate 10 Osaka-Saipan charter flights on Dec. 25, 1999 to Jan. 7, 2000 to cash in on the expected influx of Japanese travelers who would want to celebrate the new millennium on the island.

The millennium trip was planned by Pacific Micronesia Tours, Inc. and Tasi Tours, subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Japan Travel Bureau Inc., the biggest tour operator in the world. A B767 aircraft, with a seating capacity of 260, will be used in the chartered flights.

“We are doing this as part of our commitment to help the CNMI tourism industry which has been suffering due to the regional crisis,” said Ikuo Katayama, general manager of PMT.

JTB World Vacation Western Japan, a wholesaler in Osaka, area will handle the marketing of the Saipan millennium trip. Another subsidiary company, Look JTB Tours, will assist in selling the package in Japan. Brochures are now being distributed to inform travelers of the different attractions offered by the CNMI.

The five-day package tour costs between 82,000 yen to 186,000 yen depending on which hotel the guests would be stay. Six hotels have joined the millennium package tour, namely Dai-Ichi, Hafadai, Diamond, Pacific Islands Club, Aqua Resort and Nikko Saipan.

A commemorative certificate will be issued to travelers who will participate in the millennium flight. An optional tour dubbed as the millennium cruise will be offered to Japanese visitors.

“We would like to show to the community that we planned this special tour to promote the CNMI more in Japan, ” said Koki Narita, general manager of Tasi Tours. He said Saipan would still be popular among Japanese for the millennium trip because the island is near the International Dateline.

The limited number of air seats right now has made it difficult for Japanese tour operators to carry out more promotional campaigns, according to Katayama. He said they decided to carry out 10 charter flights to make sure that there would be available seats for passengers in the millennium tour.

Compared to Hawaii, Katayama said Saipan’s millennium package tour is still much cheaper. Hawaii’s six-day millennium package, which is very popular among Japanese, costs as much as 330,000 yen to 375,000 yen.

Asked how the package tour will be affected by the Y2K computer glitch, Katayama said JTB will not operate the charter flight on the midnight of December 31, 1999 if it finds out that it will not be safe to fly during that time.

Due to the one hour time difference between Saipan and Japan, Katayama said they would still be able to check the Saipan International Airport if it is not safe to take the midnight flight.