CO’s last Saipan-Manila flight departs

The last flight of Continental Airlines’ Saipan-to-Manila service left the island yesterday after the company canceled the route last month, citing skyrocketing fuel prices and diminished ticket sales, a move that has prompted local health officials to find new foreign hospitals for patients in need of advanced medical care overseas.

Continental’s service was the only direct local flight to Manila, the point of origin for Filipinos traveling to and from the Commonwealth and a key destination for many local hospital patients who are sent off-island for treatment.

Labor activists have said the loss of the flights could result in a major hassle for Filipino workers without visas to travel to Saipan through Guam, who may have to catch connecting flights through South Korea or Japan instead.

Any prospects of reviving the air service appear bleak, according to a statement by Continental spokeswoman Grace Garces, who noted that Filipino nurses—who once traveled along the route to take licensing exams on Saipan, serving as a major source of ticket sales—can now get the tests in Manila. “We will probably be unable to start again due to the loss of the nurse traffic,” Garces said. “This traffic will probably never return…”

Yet mounting fuel costs are the primary reason Continental dropped the flights, Garces said, noting that crude oil prices have jumped more than 96 percent since the same time last year to $145.18 per barrel. Continental’s fuel costs, she added, rise by an estimated $45 million for every $1-per-barrel increase in the price of crude and the company now spends $169 on fuel every second.

Moreover, Continental is in the midst of a host of cutbacks to reduce costs. “It was economically prudent to discontinue this route at today’s oil prices, which seem only to soar,” Garces said.

Health officials on Saipan have already begun adapting to the loss of the flights. In an interview, Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez said the government has now “developed a referral relationship” with Nagoya City University Hospital and Aichi Children’s Hospital in Japan. However, he noted that local and Japanese officials are still “working out” issues such as how the hospitals will be reimbursed for expenses.

In addition, Gov. Benigno Fitial is working to gain more airline service on Saipan capable of handling medical patients.