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Fitial urges CDA to support Saipan Air
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Posted on Feb 22 2012
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial has asked the Commonwealth Development Authority to extend its “cooperation and support” for Saipan Air, a new locally-based airline company.
CDA executive director Manuel A. Sablan told board members yesterday that he had met with the governor, who left last week for a series of meetings in the U.S. mainland, who advised him to support the new airline, which is set to launch flights this July.
“We have not received any details regarding that project but I indicated to him that we’re prepared to do whatever we can to assist in any way because that would be something that would not only provide more seats for tourism but it’s something that would really impact the tourism development here,” Sablan told the board.
The new airline, owned by Tan Holdings, will use two Boeing 737 aircrafts and initially focus on the key Japanese airports of Narita, Nagoya, and Osaka. Saipan Air is expected to boost arrivals by 22 percent in 2012 and by 97 percent in 2015.
Sablan said he noted to the governor that the new airline could potentially avail funding through the State Small Business Credit Initiative or SSBCI, which CDA will help administer once its application is approved by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
Meanwhile, new CDA comptroller Danny Militante attended his first Development Corporation Division meeting on Tuesday and reported to the board about the agency’s fund availability and projections for fiscal year 2012.
DCD board chair Marcie M. Tomokane noted that the report shows that loan payment collection “is picking up” through the agency’s debt relief program while operation costs is “declining.”
The DCD board is expected to elect new officers at its next board meeting in March.
