‘Rota ILS is a chicken-and-egg dilemma’

The Rota International Airport has a big problem: It needs an instrument landing system to attract more carriers; however, the Federal Aviation Administration says it can only install one if the airport has enough air traffic to make the expense worth it.

Continental Airlines director of flight operations Capt. Ralph A. Freeman said the Rota airport is indeed in a bind with regards to ILS but said that the regional Federal Aviation Administration office has nothing to with the problem.

“I agree [that it is] a chicken-and-egg scenario. However, it’s not a policy of the WestPac office; it is more FAA standard procedure. I would highly recommend getting CNMI politicians involved in lobbying for funding and support of an ILS. The availability of a precision approach would encourage carriers to begin or increase service to ROP (Rota International Airport),” he said in an e-mail to the Saipan Tribune.

ILS helps pilots land aircraft during rough weather and nighttime conditions when runway visibility is poor.

Freeman said one alternative to the ILS, which costs $2 million to install, is the much cheaper GPS landing system.

“A GLS would be the best solution but it will be several months before certification. And the aircraft have to be equipped to receive the signal in space. Eventually it will be available to all carriers and airports,” he said.

FAA Western-Pacific regional administrator William C. Withycombe, for his part, said that the GLS Continental proposes to use in Guam is a local system that uses GPS signal and refined by ground-based units to fly a similar radio-based approach to the end of the runway.

“It would do the same thing as the ground-based ILS system and would probably be easier to install,” he said.

However, Withycombe explained that the GLS is not accepted by all foreign carriers and, as Freeman already stated, it has yet to be certified by FAA for use in specific locations like Guam, Rota, or Tinian. “It’s not yet an approved system that we could pull off the shelf and install.”

During last week’s 2008 Pacific Aviation Directors Workshop at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan, Freeman noted that they recently installed a GLS from the ground up in 48 hours during a recent experiment in Guam.

“It’s economical. When there’s a typhoon, you could just pull it in, unlike ILS which can be blown away. A lot of questions will be solved by GLS, from small airlines to big airlines. As soon as this thing gets certified—and that’s what we’re trying to do with the FAA—the sooner we’ll get this thing off the ground,” he said.

A Cape Air representative, echoed Freeman’s comments and said either ILS or GLS would be great for Rota.

Pacific Development Inc. general manager Yoichi Matsumura, for his part, said that his company would rather not comment on the ILS debate for Rota.

“Since Continental has agreed to fly, it is our understanding that everything has been investigated by the carrier before they made their decision to fly Rota. However, having the ILS on island will be beneficial to the airport operations. Overall, it is our hope that this project will contribute to the CNMI economy, however little,” he said in an e-mail to the Saipan Tribune.

PDI is planning 40 new charter flights to Rota in the next couple of years and the flights are expected to bring in some 8,000 additional tourists to the island.