From bad to worse in the NMI

Northwest to suspend Osaka-Saipan flights


Marianas Variety On-Line Edition

By Gemma Q. Casas
Variety News Staff

THE ailing local tourism industry will suffer another major blow in October with Northwest Airlines’ decision to temporarily suspend its seven flights a week between Osaka and Saipan due to low profitability on the route.
Northwest is the second carrier suspending flights to Saipan this year.
China Southern Airlines is suspending its twice-a-week direct flight service between China’s Guangzhou City and Saipan starting this month.
Marianas Visitors Authority board chairman Jerry Tan admitted that the news is a “major disappointment” since the islands have yet to fully recover almost a year after Japan Airlines discontinued its 14 flights a week between Tokyo and Saipan in October 2005.
Northwest’s decision to withdraw its Osaka-Saipan flights comes after the airline announced it would add three more nighttime flights out of the Tokyo area starting Dec. 17 using 747 jumbo jets.
“The CNMI’s tourism industry was steadily re-building this year with gradually recovering tourist numbers and new Narita nighttime flights, and so the timing of this decision by Northwest to suspend the Osaka flights couldn’t be much worse,” said Tan in a statement.