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JAL considering more charters to Saipan
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Posted on May 06 2008
While Japan Airlines canceled its regular air service to the Commonwealth in October 2005, the carrier has not totally abandoned the destination as witnessed by the three recently charter flights from Haneda, Japan.
The April 26, 29, and May 3 charter flights that left Japan are the first for the fiscal year and more are being considered, according to JAL public relations manager Stephen Pearlman.
“In FY2007, the year ending March 31, 2008, we operated a total of 19 roundtrip charter flights from Japan to Saipan. So far this year (FY2008), we have announced that we will operate three roundtrip flights to Saipan during the Japanese Golden Week holidays. Other flights to Saipan are being considered but nothing has been finalized yet,” he said in a recemt email to the Saipan Tribune.
The three JAL charter flights from Haneda, along with the seven scheduled by Continental Airlines (three of which are for Rota), brought in 2,201 additional airlines seats to the Commonwealth during the April 25 to May 5 high-peak travel period for Japanese travelers, according to the Marianas Visitors Authority.
In an earlier report, the JAL executive justified the cancellation of the carrier’s regular service to the Commonwealth and said many international flights also got the axe because of the general underperformance of JAL’s international business.
“[It was] purely business reasons. JAL’s international business has not been profitable for a number of years,” he said.
Pearlman went on to detail the extent of losses the carrier incurred the past several years—30 billion yen in FY2004, 47.2 billion yen in FY2005, and 16.2 billion in FY2006.
He added that although JAL is forecasted to record a 7-billion yen profit for FY2007, the carrier still has a long ways to go before resuming some of the international flights it suspended in October 2005.
“…even if we hit this [profit projection] there is still some way for us to go in terms of restructuring our business,” said Pearlman.
