BY MARK RABAGO
Saipan Correspondent
NAFTAN, Saipan — Micronesian Air Connection Services, which planned to service the Mariana Islands chain, has been stymied after it failed to win a bid for hangar space in Guam’s A. B. Won Pat International Airport.
While John J. Stewart, president of the airline; readies for its inaugural flight to Rota on Jan. 21, he also lamented the missed opportunity for the latest entrant to inter-island market to break into the Guam market.
“However, they still maintain and are giving us the opportunity to operate from there. So that's very important,” he said during an informal press conference on April 16 at the MACS hangar in Naftan.
Stewart said MACS put in a very good offer.
“At the moment it's just a little bit harder,” he said. Stewart said the airline will see how the community receives its flights and will move forward from there.
For now, Stewart said MACS will focus primarily on its routes in the Northern Mariana Islands.
“Once we get this running smoothly and we're getting well serviced, we'll put on a 19-seater,” he said. A lack of a hangar will slow progress on the Guam-NMI routes, Stewart said.
As for the upcoming maiden flight, Stewart said one of two nine-seater Cessna 208 Grand Caravan aircraft will depart Saipan at 9 a.m. enroute to Rota with the return flight set at 10.30 a.m.
“This flight is basically a soft opening. We've got some dignitaries coming on board with us [and] some media and so forth.” The maiden flight is already fully booked, he said.
Flights are scheduled for Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, within the NMI.
Stewart asked for patience from customers in the NMI as the airline launches its passenger service with the Saipan-Rota route first, followed by the Saipan-Tinian route soon.
“We're doing small steps, making sure we get it right the first time and then [we’ll] build from there. It's going to take a bit of time, but we’ve been here since 1995, so you can't get rid of us that quickly.”
Stewart and his wife Paula, through J&P Holdings, also own Micronesian Air Cargo Services, Skydive Saipan, and Skydive Guam.
He said the main reason why they’ve launched MACS is because the islands are in desperate need of an alternative inter-island carrier.
“We see a need for it here and I guess we're seeing an opportunity as well. And so that's where we're working from...We started in 1995 with skydiving and then we took on the cargo service route in 2013 and we have the contract with the United States Postal Service since then and we've been running cargo as well. So, we're sort of well entrenched in the area. We know the area well.”
MACS planes are much better than its competitor’s, Stewart said, as they’re new.
“This new aircraft’s date of manufacture is January 2025. That's when it came out of the factory and so you know it's brand new. It also has air conditioning, and it's got a very reliable engine. It's got charging jacks within the airplane, USB, USB-C, that type of thing. It's very modern.” The cockpit is glass, he said. “It's the state-of-the-art and [has] latest avionics that you can possibly get.”
MACS’ fare for the Saipan-Rota route is $139 one way and $278 for roundtrip. For more information, go to www.flymacs.com. mbj