13 Oct 2006

Japan Airlines says first charter flight to Marshall Islands scheduled for February

9:07 am on 13 October 2006

Japan Airlines has announced that its first charter flight to the Marshall Islands is scheduled for February the 11th.

The airline's manager of international sales, Koji Mochizuki, says it decided to launch direct Tokyo-Majuro charter service because it needed to open up new destinations for Japanese tourists in the Micronesian area.

He says the airline wanted to find an area similar to Palau which now gets about 70 Japan Airlines charters a year.

The plan is reported to be similar for the Japanese carrier's decision to have charters from Tokyo to Fairbanks, Alaska.

A consultant says the situation of Fairbanks and Majuro are very similar in terms of airport challenges and limited hotel space.