The Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino continues to find ways to get customers into its facilities after sunset. According to Tom Liu hotel general manager of Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino the business has relationships with Saipan Travel and Taga Air “For clientele for customers for anyone that would like to travel after dark between Saipan and Tinian.” He said nighttime transportation service into Tinian does not exist outside of Taga’s chartered flights “Freedom Air stops flights after about seven or 7:30 in the evening and our ferry the Tinian Shipping Ferry only operates during the day.”
He said the purpose for the flight service is to allow customers accessibility to Saipan and vice-versa after dark. “We service the local market as well for anyone that either needs a lift on Saipan or Tinian if they miss the last ferry or the last flight on Freedom Air.” Liu said shareholders in both Taga Air and Saipan Travel are representatives of Tinian Dynasty as well.
Charter air service began the end of November. The air service begins at 7:30 p.m. and ends at midnight and flights are customer-driven. He said he would like an increase in the numbers of travelers but added “We still want to continue the service because the hotel really needs to have it. The hotel is providing the service so that if anyone wants to come over then there is a way.”
He said customers on evening flights arriving in Saipan were unable to get to Tinian Dynasty after 7 p.m. “Taga Air started service two years ago. Since the Tinian ferry ran aground several months ago they do not operate at night anymore. So the hotel had to find a way to provide access for who would like to come.”
Liu clarified “Saipan Travel is not at the Saipan airport but Taga Air has a station agent assisting Saipan Travel by providing the voucher for Taga Air.” Liu said that the future of Taga Air might included service to Rota and Guam.
The Journal asked if Tinian Dynasty would cease evening chartered flights if the Tinian ferry provided the service. “When Tinian Shipping can repair their ferry then we will look at the whole situation again but there isn’t a dry docking facility here there isn’t a technician or mechanic that can repair the ferry. So it would either have to be towed back to Singapore or Hong Kong or somewhere where there is a big shipyard that can do the repair and that’s going to take quite some time and quite a bit of money.”
When told by the Journal that the Commonwealth Ports Authority was in negotiations with Saipan Shipyard to provide a dry dock facility Liu said he would talk to port officials to gain more insight. MBJ
