Cape Air eyes regional expansion

Cape Air and Continental Micronesia yesterday bared plans to expand operations throughout Micronesia, as they vowed to keep offering affordable fares for Continental Connection’s new service between Guam and Saipan.

Daniel Wolf, the Massachusetts-based president of Cape Air, said he looks forward to seeing the partnership grow in the Marianas—which, he said, is the farthest destination that Cape Air has ventured into.

“We do have a significant regional operation in the Caribbean and we also have one in Southern Florida, as well as our main base, which is in New England. So we’ve experienced setting up remote operations before. Not this far away, however. [The Marianas] is 14 time zones away; it’s a long way from home,” Wolf said. “But we’ve really found a new home here. We sent out a lot of parts, a lot of tooling to [start this new service]. We really prepared to make a go at it.”

He said discussions are now underway between Cape Air and Continental Micronesia regarding plans to expand the operation of Continental Connection to other islands in the region.

“We’re having some very creative and interesting discussions with Continental Micronesia to see if we might help them expand their services even further in the region. Nothing definite yet, but we are looking at that,” Wolf said.

Tinian, Yap, and Palau are some of the islands that both airline companies are considering for the expansion plan, he added.

Wolf said Cape Air currently has eight pilots stationed in the Marianas—plus the regional administrator, who is a qualified pilot. But he added that the airline could double the number in the next year or so, depending on market demand.

Wally Dias, Continental Micronesia staff vice president for sales and marketing, echoed Wolf’s statement on the planned expansion. He reported that the airline companies are now studying if they can utilize Cessna 402 aircraft earlier used for Continental Connection’s Guam-Rota flights for other markets in the region.

The commuter service between Guam and Rota began on July 1. Starting last Sunday, Cape Air will use 46-seat ATR-42 aircraft for the Guam-Rota-Saipan flights.

More flights, lower fares

With the new service, Continental Connection now has up to seven flights between the three islands, including two flights between Guam and Saipan serviced by Boeing 737-800 jet aircraft.

“We’re trying to augment service because with our old schedule, if you recall, it was very inconvenient for business people to travel back and forth between Guam and Saipan. But we couldn’t put another flight into the market because we operated only [Boeing 737s], which are too big and hard to fill up given the amount of people that are [using the service],” Dias said.

He added, “So bringing out the new ATR aircraft, that has 46 seats, it is very easy for us to add more seats and provide more frequent flights. We believe that adding more frequencies will create more demand because it makes it more convenient to go back and forth.”

Further, Continental Connection has reduced fares by as much as 38 percent. The current round-trip airfare from Guam to Saipan or Rota is as low as $106 per passenger. The airline has also eliminated three-day advance purchase fares, allowing customers to buy tickets a day before departure.

Dias said airfares are 100 percent refundable, and carry no other restrictions.

“In addition, we’ve restructured our airfare so that the next lowest fare for the market will be a $140 roundtrip between Saipan and Guam. That will be a much more affordable airfare than what we’ve previously had in the market place,” he said.

Although this introductory price offer will be effective only until Sept. 30, Wolf vowed that Continental Connection would do its best to maintain the low fare and provide discounts and incentives for frequent travelers.

“We’re going to be working on things like frequent flyer books, so that people who really use the service a lot can take advantage of some discounts as well,” Wolf said.

Passenger comfort

Dias also assured passengers of better services and more comfort when they avail of Continental Connection’s new service.

Aside from providing more seats, the ATR-42 aircraft servicing the new flights have a pressurized cabin and a lavatory on board.

“It is also a little bit bigger than the normal commuter aircraft that fly between the islands because we’re actually able to put in regular Continental coach seats in the aircraft. It’s somewhat like the seats that you’re familiar with on some of the jet service,” Dias said.