Air and Sea

Continental Micronesia is starting a new weekly flight linking Majuro with non-stop service to Honolulu and Guam. Continental is stopping its Honolulu-Kwajalein-Guam return service effective March 3, and switching that flight to Majuro instead. It will be operated on a Saturday-Sunday schedule and will continue for the rest of 2007, according to Continental. This will bring to four each week the number of Continental flights from Guam and Hawaii, respectively, to Majuro. Continental said it will resume the Guam-Kwajalein-Honolulu service during the peak summer months, from June 5 through August 28.

Japan Airlines launched its first ever non-stop charter flight from Tokyo to Majuro in mid-February, with a second scheduled for mid-March. While both quickly sold the maximum 190 seats, additional charter schedules won’t be announced until after these flights.

“JAL is planning more charters in May and summer holiday season, but we still have so many issues to be solved before (we issue) future schedules,” Koji Mochizuki, JAL’s manager of international sales planning and marketing for the Japan region, said in late January.

Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Gerald Zackios said that “we’re going to make it (JAL charters) work. We must seize this opportunity.” What is important, Zackios added, is that “the Marshall Islands is on the radar of JAL.” While Majuro is not developed for tourism, neither was Palau when JAL started charters there 10 years ago, Zackios said. Today, JAL flies about 70 charters a year to Palau. 

 

 

Taiwan has provided $2 million to the Marshall Islands government for its national airline, Air Marshall Islands, to buy a Dash-8 from FINOVA Aviation Leasing Company. The 34-seat, twin engine Dash-8 has been leased for about three years and used primarily for domestic service, though it has also serviced the Majuro-Tarawa (Kiribati) route.   “This is a great day for the people of the Marshall Islands,” said AMI general manager Dan Fitzpatrick at the check presentation ceremony in late January. “We’ll now have an aircraft that has proven itself suitable for the Marshall Islands.”

 

 

 

New Zealand's national carrier Air New Zealand has outsourced most of its finance department clerical work to Fiji.

The move affected 70 clerical jobs in Air New Zealand's finance business area, now called Financial Shared Services. The reason for the move was the availability of low-cost labor.

But it got plenty of criticism particularly from New Zealand's Service and Food Workers union. "Air NZ management bombards employees with requests for their comments and feedback, but then the company pursues a single - minded "vision" in spite of what employees submit," says secretary Jill Ovens, "Air NZ corporate management is driven by ideology. The focus is to secure a low-paid workforce who are passive and compliant. If the outsourcing is a failure, it will be a huge cost to the company. But they will have succeeded in de - unionizing a whole section of their workforce, so they probably think it is worth the risk."

The New Zealand government owns an 80 percent stake in Air New Zealand.Meanwhile New Zealand financial analysts are tipping Air New Zealand will triple its pre-tax profit during the next four years as a result of a fleet upgrade and route changes.

Rob Mercer, an analyst for Forsyth Barr, has been quoted in New Zealand media as upgrading his profit forecast for the airline from NZ$148 million (US$101.5 million) for the last financial year to NZ$205.5 million (US$141 million) before interest and tax for the current year to June 30 and to NZ$497 million (US$341 million) in 2010.

Air New Zealand flies to a number of Pacific Island destinations including Tahiti, Cook Islands, Papeete, Samoa, Niue, Tonga, Vanuatu and Fiji.

-Peter Rees

 

The drop in petroleum product prices has not yet affected airline fuel surcharges. Air Pacific’s John Campbell says the airline expects to spend an extra $58million on fuel this year, an increase of 41 per cent. He says there little relationship between jet fuel and Fiji's petroleum or diesel fuel prices.  Australian media are reporting however that lower fuel prices could put Qantas on track to beat its record net profit of A$914 million. Qantas says oil prices will need to fall further before it considers another cut to its fuel surcharges.

 

Air Pacific has entered into a code share arrangement with Canada’s Harmony Airways for joint flights between Nadi and Vancouver. Under the arrangement, passengers from Vancouver will disembark from Harmony Airways aircraft in Honolulu and board an Air Pacific jet for Nadi. The service commences in March.

 

Air Tahiti Nui remained Tahiti's N° 1 airline, carrying 61% of all destination and transit passengers, compared with 59% for 2005, according to French Civil Aviation Office statistics. Air Tahiti Nui carried 214,021 destination passengers in 2006, and 15,603 transit passengers. The combined passenger total filled an average 65.4% of the airline's available seats. Internal changes at Air Tahiti Niu continue. Chairman Éric Pommier has been replaced by a former Chief Executive, Geffry Salmon.

Meanwhile the French office says the six international airlines serving Tahiti carried 6.7% more passengers to and from Tahiti last year compared with 2005.

Air France, Air New Zealand, Air Tahiti Nui, Lan Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Air Caledonie International operated a total of 1,947 regularly scheduled inbound flights and 1,945 outbound flights.

 

Papua  New Guinea’s national airline, Air Niugini is expanding its fleet. The Papua New Guinea government committed K35 million towards the re-fleeting programme in its November 2006 Supplementary Budget.

Meanwhile Air Niugini has introduced discounted airfares in a bid to boost inbound tourists and to spur domestic travels. Fares to Asian destinations were reduced by between 20-30 percent and domestic fares dropped 40-50 percent.

  

Investigations are continuing into the cause of an accident in Fiji February 1. A small Cessna aircraft owned by Advance Aviation Training (Fiji) Ltd crashed in the mountains above Lautoka, a city on the western coast of Fiji's main island of Viti Levu, killing the pilot Frederick Mitchell and two Canadian tourists.

 

Palau has agreed to an expansion of the air service agreement with the Philippines which will open up flights to Cebu, Philippines and eventually to the Federated States of Micronesia.

Edward Pagunsan, Undersecretary of the Philippines Department of Transportation and Communications, says the expansion will increase the number of tourists coming from Davao, Cebu and Manila.

Although the amendments have not yet been finalized, Palau also agreed to allow any Philippine ­based airline to utilize Koror as a hub en route to Yap or any of the FSM islands.

Asian Spirit, the Philippine carrier flying a Koror -Davao route is interested in adding an FSM or Yap flight to the route.

 

 

Horizon Lines, LLC has begun a service to the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau under the carrier's subsidiary company, Horizon Lines of Guam, LLC. Horizon Lines of Guam offers through bills of lading for service between Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae, Yap and Palau and the United States. Shipments between the U.S. and Guam, Tinian and Rota will continue to be booked with Horizon Lines, LLC.

Matson Navigation Company lowered its fuel surcharge in its Hawaii, Guam/CNMI and Micronesia services by 1.25 percentage points, from18.75 percent to 17.5 percent, effective January 28, 2007.

 

Air Rarotonga and Air Tahiti have launched a new code shared service between Rarotonga Cook Islands and Papeete Tahiti. Commencing April 3 the new service coincides with the withdrawal of Air NZ from the route.

 

 

Tenders are being called for surveys to help upgrade four outer island airports in the Cook Islands so bigger planes can use them, the Cook Islands Herald reported.

A tender notice published in the newspaper seeks land surveys covering airports in Pukapuka, Atiu, Manihiki and Penrhyn.

 

One of Taiwan's major international airlines in April will resume charter flights from Taipei to Saipan. Eva Air will fly the scheduled charter service twice a week beginning April 3 for at least a year according to senior airline executive, Kevin Chung.

Meanwhile the Marianas Visitors Authority (MVA) announced today that three additional charter flights have been confirmed during Golden Week. These charters will originate in Fukuoka Japan and will be operated by JTB and KNT.

Japan Airlines (JAL) too has confirmed it will add three extra charter flights to the CNMI during Golden Week. 

 

 

A 38 percent surge in arrivals from July to December 2006 has promoted Norfolk Island’s home based airline, Norfolk Air to add extra peak time flights from Sydney and Brisbane each Friday. The new service began February 23. Norfolk Island Tourism general Manager Steve McInnes said the growth in arrivals confirms the success of code share arrangements with Qantas. Air Nauru formerly operated the route, but lost access when its plane was repossessed.

Hawaiian Airlines recorded a consolidated net loss of $40.5 million for 2006. The airline says high fuel prices and increased competition on its Transpacific and Interisland marekts took their toll on results.