Northwest is adding more flights to NMI

By Agnes Donato
Reporter

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Northwest Airlines will add three weekly flights between Tokyo and Saipan from April to October this year, the air carrier announced yesterday.

The new nonstop service will depart the Narita International Airport at nighttime every Monday, Thursday, and Sunday. This will bring the number of Northwest's Tokyo-Saipan flights to a total of 10 per week.

The new flights will use a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, which can carry 400 economy and 30 business class passengers. As a result, the flights will generate 5,160 additional seats from Japan per month, a major boost for the CNMI's tourism industry, which has been reeling as a result of Japan Airlines' pullout from the islands in October 2005.

The new flights complement Northwest's current service to Saipan from Narita, Osaka and Nagoya. The nighttime service, which will depart Narita at 10:55pm, will also offer Japanese travelers more opportunity and additional flexibility when visiting the Mariana Islands. These flights will also provide one-stop connect service to residents of the CNMI via Narita to Northwest's gateways in the United States.

The decision by Northwest comes after Gov. Benigno R. Fitial's trip to Japan last week. During his visit, Fitial met with Northwest officials to push for additional flights and to reassure the airline company of his administration's support.

According to the Governor's Office, Fitial entered into a memorandum of agreement with Northwest granting the airline a marketing package as an incentive for the new flights.

In line with the MOU, Fitial instructed the Marianas Visitors Authority to aggressively market the new flight and urged the Commonwealth Ports Authority to provide Northwest discounts on passenger service fees.

"I had excellent meetings with Northwest in Tokyo last week, and we understand each other well, businessman to businessman," said Fitial, who returned from his Japan trip yesterday.

"I made it clear to Northwest that the CNMI urgently needs the additional air seats and that we will make sure the new flights are filled, with the MVA working with Northwest to aggressively market the flights. We hammered out a Memorandum of Understanding over this last weekend, and I'm delighted that Northwest has already responded with this week's announcement of a new flight from Tokyo to Saipan," he added.

Jeff Bernier, sales and trade marketing director for Northwest Airlines in Japan, said: "Today's announcement of our additional Saipan flight is a clear indication of Northwest's continued dedication to the CNMI and Japan market. The incremental flights were made possible in large part thanks to the Governor and MVA's willingness to work with Northwest on enhancing tourism between Japan and CNMI."

He added: "Our key travel agency partners requested more seats to Saipan and we delivered. I look forward to working with them to deliver positive results for the Governor and the people of CNMI."

Newly appointed MVA board member Jerry Tan, who accompanied the Governor to Japan last week, noted that MVA had been in discussion with Northwest on a possible new flight. Fitial's final push last week was the key to sealing the deal, he said.

Based on an average spending per Japanese tourist of $1,332, Tan projected that the new Tokyo service would contribute $27.5 million to the CNMI economy over the next five months.

"[This] is a huge boost to our MVA members, to the government's revenue base, and to the entire community. The MVA is investing to secure this second Narita flight, and our investment will be paid back many, many times over. This is the kind of investment that the MVA will continue to make to help revitalize the economy," Tan said.

MVA board vice chair and DFS Galleria president Marian Aldan-Pierce, who also traveled to Japan with the governor, said MVA should continue investing to make sure that the new flight is successful, and continues beyond October.

"That will be our challenge during the coming 5 months. The investment that the MVA makes in building back airlift to the CNMI will generate huge returns for the CNMI-there is really no better investment possible for the CNMI," Aldan-Pierce said.