The Commonwealth Ports Authority (CPA), operator of airports across the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI), is talking to operators in the wake of the territory's only scheduled domestic operator, Star Marianas Air (S2, Tinian), threatening to axe flights amid a debt dispute between the two entities.

The Saipan Tribune reports that CPA Chairman Joe Ayuyu told a board meeting last week that he had already identified possible replacement air service providers.

"There have been a couple of individuals and companies that have approached me," he told the meeting. "We’re in discussions and we’re urging them to please look at the CNMI as a place for them to do business. We will do everything we can legally to assist them in the permitting process. That’s where we are right now."

"I'm not at liberty to disclose the names of these companies as we're still in the preliminary stages of our conversations," Ayuyu added. "We're looking at two, but I'm trying to reach out to more, possibly from Alaska or Hawaii and other places. The ones we've talked to are around Micronesia. There is an airline in Pohnpei that has been serving Kosrae for many years. We've reached out to them if they're interested in expanding. There's [also] another group that we're trying to look for seed money for."

There is only one carrier based at Pohnpei, the state-owned charter operator Caroline Islands Air (Pohnpei). ch-aviation has contacted the airline for comment.

As recently reported in ch-aviation, Star Marianas has threatened to end its inter-island flights around the CNMI after the CPA sent it a 30-day invoice for USD1,294,497.16 covering airport fees at Saipan, Rota International, and Tinian between October 2022 and May 2024. The airline maintains the current fee structure imposed by the CPA is unsustainable.

"These fees make it economically unviable for us to operate under the current conditions," Star Marianas Chairman Robert Christian told local politicians last month. "The current fee methodology lacks transparency, detailed cost allocation, and a fair treatment of common use areas, all of which result in charges that do not accurately reflect our actual usage of airport facilities and services."

Ayuyu says he is open to coming up with a payment plan for Star Marianas, which he says provides a vital public transport service. "I'm really flexible," he said. "From CPA's point of view, Star Marianas owes us. It's simple. I do recognise the contribution of Star Marianas to our island. However, doing that doesn't mean Star Marianas can use the services of our island for free. It takes people to run the airport and the CPA has to pay them. Nowhere in this world should a business be using a public facility and paying zero. It's ridiculous. That's my problem with Star Marianas."

Star Marianas Air says it will end all services in October unless the debt dispute is settled.