‘Hafa adai spirit’ greets inaugural Rota charter

The inaugural charter flight to Rota touched down a little later than scheduled at the southernmost island of the Commonwealth early Sunday morning.

According to Pacific Development, Inc., the Continental Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft arrived around 1am on April 27. PDI, along with mother company Kinki Nippon Tourist Co. Ltd., organized the charter.

“It was all smooth and a sight to see, children with 200 leis lining up so excited to greet the first passenger with a friendly smile with the warm hafa adai spirit. Though it was late Continental Airlines landed smoothly and the first person to step on Rota was Mr. Katsuji Yoshiike, followed by the remaining guests on board Continental,” said PDI general manager Gordon Marciano.

He added that the 155 passengers of the inaugural flight in all spent about 45 minutes to disembark from their aircraft and through Customs, Immigration, and quarantine checkpoints.

“Guests were very excited at the professional care by the time they exited through the main arrival doors. People from Rota continued to greet them as the guests boarded their vehicles for their hotels,” added Marciano.

The people of Rota that came to the airport to welcome the arrivals—disregarding their bedtimes—were led by Rota Mayor Joseph S. Inos and Sen. Felix Mendiola.

Also on hand were Commonwealth Ports Authority chair Rex Palacios, Marianas Visitors Authority managing director Perry Tenorio, and MVA board member Edward Martita.

Marciano added that the Rota community anxiously waited at the apron for Continental Airlines to land on the runway.

“Cheers echoed as we watched the first inaugural flight land on Rota. And as guests were greeted with fresh leis and water our visitors were than officially welcomed by Mayor Inos, who along with PDI president Yoichi Matsumura, extended his support by translating the message to all on his behalf.”

Aside from Matsumura and Marciano, a number of big brass from KNT flew to Rota to witness the inaugural charter, among them KNT general manager Makoto Yashiro and KNT-Holiday Package Tours Division general manager Hisaki Taguchi.

They were joined by nine other KNT sales executives who arrived to begin preparations for the promotion and advertisement of the summer program.

Aside from the April 27 inaugural Rota charter flight, two more charters will arrive on April 30 and May 4.

KNT Kinki Nippon Tourist, PDI’s parent company, announced in February that it would bring in 40 new charter flights to Rota in the next couple of years.

The Rota charter flights are expected to bring in some 8,000 tourists to Rota in about a year. KNT has chartered Continental Airlines to bring in the new Rota flights. Continental Airlines is using its 155-seater Boeing 737 aircraft to service the island.