Japan flights to Alaska back on after Palin intervenes

Eighteen winter flights from Japan to Fairbanks are back on schedule again after Gov Sarah Palin intervened with federal customs authorities.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection said staffing shortfalls led to the denial about six weeks ago of landing rights for Japan Airlines. Customs officers are flown from Anchorage to Fairbanks to meet each JAL flight.

The flights are worth an estimated $4 million to the Fairbanks economy.

Palin asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for reconsideration and federal officials reversed the decision.

"We recognized right away the importance," said Patricia Eckert, a trade specialist with the governor's office. "There is tremendous economic impact at a time of year when it's most valued."

Palin signed a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff asking for reconsideration. The letter noted Alaska as an international crossroads and emphasized the potential economic cost to Fairbanks.

Colin Lawrence, director of tourism for the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau, which developed the Japan Airlines charter programs, summed up the customs denial as budgetary but questioned whether staff is really in such short demand.

"We're hoping that this now is set as something important so they will make necessary budgetary requests in the future," he said.

The Fairbanks tourism industry counts on high-volume winter flights from Japan.

"It's obviously extremely important to winter tourism in Alaska and the Interior," said Jillian Simpson, director of travel, trade and international marketing for the Alaska Travel Industry Association. "It was critical that the landing rights were secured."

The winter charter program has grown since its inaugural year in 2004, when Japan Airlines landed three flights in Fairbanks. The airline this winter has 20 scheduled flights to Alaska, with 18 landing in Fairbanks between Dec 27 and March 21.

The flights are typically full, averaging 350 passengers, said Angie Spears, public relations manager at Fairbanks International Airport.

"The growth is just amazing, especially when you think about what's going on in the airline industry around the world," Simpson said. Flights from Japan to Lower 48 destinations have been decreasing.

She attributed the increase to campaigns marketing Alaska's natural beauty and outdoors accessibility. The winter experience offered in Fairbanks is like no other in the world, she said.

"There is that real mystique of Alaska," she said.

The Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau received the Governor's Exporter of the Year award in 2007 for developing the Japan Airlines charter flights program.

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