MAJURO, Marshall Islands (10 Mar 2009) — Prospects for more Japan Airlines charter flights to the Marshall Islands are dimming although tourism industry officials say they have not given up. After nine charter flights during 2007 and 2008, none are scheduled for the remainder of 2009 and JAL promoter Satoshi Yoshii, who runs the largest local scuba dive operation in Majuro, has now established a dive operation in Pohnpei, capital of Micronesia, and has started promoting a two-country visitor package to Japanese. Adding to the new uncertainty about JAL is that a key airline executive who had been promoting the charters from Tokyo recently left the carrier for a job with another airline -- increasing the challenge for Majuro to get more flights. Yoshii is from Japan and launched his dive company in Majuro 10 years ago, playing the lead role in bringing JAL charters to Majuro. He's invested heavily but said his resources are running out. "My Marshall Islands and Japan companies purchased 50 percent of the seats on the last nine charters," he said. "But I don't have the resources to continue at this level." Yoshii said that when previous JAL charters were scheduled around holidays -- as were the last two charters two during the recent Christmas and New Year -- they turned a profit. So the strategy for future JAL charters is to schedule them around Japanese holidays that fall in May and during the four-month period of July to October. "We tried during non-holiday periods, but we can't fill the planes even with a low airfares," Yoshii said. "The solution is to schedule the flights on holidays." To break even, at least 175 of the 234 seats on the Boeing-767 must be sold, he said. Even with the holiday strategy, with new JAL executives in position in Tokyo, it is almost like starting from scratch. The Marshall Islands Visitors Authority estimates that each of the nine charter flights injected about US$200,000 into the local economy. But it isn't only JAL charters that are a question mark. During 2008 the Marshall Islands' modest tourism industry saw visitor arrivals fall by 17 percent over the previous year, dropping from 7,200 to 6,022. Complicating the picture with JAL is that airline executive Koji Mochizuki, a proponent of the charters, recently left JAL for another air carrier, Fuji Dream Airlines. "Everyone in Marshall Islands wants more flights," Yoshii said. "But we need more infrastructure and can't continue to do it on risk." Still, he said, "we're not giving up." Marshall Islands Resort general manager Bill Weza, who runs the largest hotel at 100 rooms in Majuro, acknowledged at the weekend that he is not optimistic about future JAL opportunities, and added given the current economic situation and the fewer dive operations available now in Majuro, the best bet may be to get smaller but more regular groups of Japanese visitors via Continental Micronesia airlines, which runs a three-times a week regular service from Guam, with connecting flights into Japan. | | The future is bleak for the tourism industry in the Marshall Islands, which bet the house on charter flights from Japan that lost money and have been terminated. Yoshii has also recently branched out to open a second dive operation in Pohnpei, the capital of Micronesia, about 600 miles west of Majuro. He is now promoting combined Majuro and Pohnpei visits to Japanese tourists. "Pohnpei has mountains, waterfalls and Nan Madol (a 13th century ruins)," he said. "The Marshall Islands has great beaches and water." One possibility he says he is discussing with JAL is the airline switching to the smaller Boeing-737 for Pohnpei-Majuro charters. The Pohnpei-Majuro idea will also work with Continental flights, he said. "Japanese tour companies are showing some interest in this," he said. "I'm not losing interest in the Marshall Islands -- it's my second home. But we need to survive first." by Giff Johnson |
