Central Pacific airlines talk cooperation as APA not yet back in the air

BY GIFF JOHNSON
Marshall Islands Correspondent

MAJURO, Marshall Islands — The CEOs of three central Pacific airlines convened in Majuro in mid-April for an unprecedented meeting to discuss needs and possibilities for regional air cooperation.
  

The meeting “definitely increased momentum” for regional air cooperation, said Marshall Islands Aviation Task Force Chairman Joseph “Jerry” Kramer of the April 14 meeting in Majuro. Kramer is also CEO of Pacific International Inc.

The meeting brought together Nauru Airlines board Chairman Kieren Keke and CEO Brett Gebbers, Air Kiribati board chairman Kevin Rouatu and CEO Tom Taitika Tehumu, and Air Marshall Islands board chairman and Transport Minister Kessai Note and General Manager Albon Jelke with the Aviation Task Force and Katrina Murray, the chargé d’affaires at the Australian Embassy in Majuro. Chief financial officers from Nauru Airlines and Air Marshall Islands also participated in the unusual gathering.
 
Kramer said the meeting was “provoked” by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration grounding Asia Pacific Airline’s cargo service to the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia on Feb. 1. This caused the Marshall Islands president in mid-March to issue a declaration of emergency due to lack of air cargo service.

Although United Airlines, which holds a contract for mail delivery to U.S.-affiliated islands in the north, chartered two Nauru Airlines flights to transport mail to Majuro and also put on extra cargo service in April to clear the backlog of mail stuck in Guam and Honolulu, a long-term solution to the air cargo drought has not yet been found.

“The meetings in Majuro discussed a lot of (air service) issues,” Kramer said. “We are smarter and more informed now about what to do to improve the service.” He described the gathering as a “very open discussion” in which each of the airlines put their needs and interests out for discussion. “We put everything on the table with the aim of trying to come up with a plan that can work (to meet passenger and cargo needs).”

Kramer said the Australian government has played an essential role with its subsidy for air service connecting Brisbane with the central and North Pacific. But that subsidy is set to expire in June.

Since starting its Pacific Flights Program in fiscal 2020, the Australian government has spent more than AUD16.9 million ($11.4 million) connecting 13 Pacific countries and Australia through seven airlines facilitating more than 600 flights that have moved upwards of 45,000 people and more than 4,000 tons of cargo, including critical vaccines and medical supplies.
Australia has financially helped the Nauru Airlines flight that links Brisbane with Nauru, Tarawa, Majuro and Pohnpei. Its Pacific Flights Program also supports the Australia-Palau Connector, linking Australia, Papua New Guinea and Palau. These are the only flights to directly connect the north Pacific to Australia. “The current agreement with the flight operator, Nauru Airlines, concludes on 30 June 2023,” Murray said. “Australia is exploring options to support ongoing connectivity and remain in discussions with Nauru Airlines about this.”

The airline meeting in Majuro touched on possible new routes and destinations, including air service to Honolulu, Palau, Fiji and Christmas Island, he said. “It all boils down to financial feasibility,” Kramer said, emphasizing why Australian support of Nauru’s route that links Brisbane with Nauru, Tarawa, Majuro and Pohnpei has been essential in the start up phase of the service that launched last October.

In the first few months that Nauru Airlines has connected Pohnpei with Majuro, the traffic between these two islands has not developed enough to support the service, Kramer said. “But a Majuro-Pohnpei-Palau route might work,” he said. A reason for that is that many employers in the Marshall Islands bring in workers from the Philippines but Guam is a major bottleneck, due to the U.S. government’s requirement of obtaining a visa to transit Guam for flights. An air link between Palau and Majuro, he said, could open a gateway to bring in workers as well as visitors from Asia.

Kramer said the hope is that several of the island governments will join together to both thank Australia for its subsidy for the air links to the north and request it to extend the subsidy for another 12 to 18 months to support further development of these thinly traveled air routes. Ongoing financial support in these early days “can change the market and strengthen routes to make them profitable.”

The grounding of APA in February motivated renewed discussion about regional air cooperation — a conversation that has surfaced from time-to-time for more than a decade, but has never gained traction. “Maybe the stars are aligned for this,” Kramer said.

The meeting of CEOs and board chairs looked at “what we can do to make it work. As an indication of how serious each country is, look at the people who came,” Kramer said. mbj