MAJURO, Marshall Islands (6 Oct 2001) -- The Marshall Islands continues to experience fallout from the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. This week, Aloha Airlines announced that while it is not reducing service to the Marshalls, it will be changing equipment and the route for its Tuesday/Wednesday flight in view of the lighter than normal passenger loads. Aloha manager John Hawley said that the Tuesday flight that normally flies non-stop from Honolulu to Kwajalein will, starting next week, fly to Majuro first and then to Kwajalein, following the same route as the Friday/Saturday flight. The reason for this is that from October 1, Aloha will start using a Boeing 737 - 200 series plane, instead of the larger 800 series that it has been using. "There is no reduction in service as of now," Hawley said. "But we're changing the aircraft because passenger loads are low at this time." The September/November period is historically a low travel period for this area. But Hawley said international carriers are seeing "lighter than normal" loads since the events of September 11, 2001. | | Hawley noted, too, that in Hawai'i, Aloha has cut back many of its inter island flights because there are not many passengers flying in from the mainland. The new Aloha schedule for the Marshalls: On Tuesday, Flight 355 from Honolulu/Johnston arrives Majuro at 5:26 p.m. and departs for Kwajalein at 6:01 p.m. (check in time is 3-5 p.m. for both the Tuesday and Friday flights). On Wednesday, Flight 356 returns to Majuro from Kwajalein at 10:22 a.m. and departs for Johnston Island and Majuro at 11:07 a.m. Check in time is from 8-10 a.m. (for both the Wednesday and Saturday flights). |
