Asia Pacific Airlines wants to tap US open skies agreements

By Andrew Curran.

Guam-based freight charter carrier Aero Micronesia, doing business as Asia Pacific Airlines, has asked the US Department of Transportation to grant it a certificate of public convenience and necessity and for exemption authority to fly freight and mail between the United States and any country with which the US has an open-skies or multilateral agreement.

The application was received by the department on February 5, 2026. The airline wants the authority to run indefinitely and to include any countries with which the United States may sign an air access agreement in the future.

Asia Pacific Airlines operates four B757-200 freighters between Guam (GUM) and Honolulu (HNL), Guam and Hong Kong (HKG), and around Micronesia and the West Pacific.

The current application also requests permission to operate via the United States and intermediate points to points within open-skies countries and beyond, to the maximum extent allowed under United States’ aviation agreements.

“None of the authority Asia Pacific Airlines requests is controversial or poses any novel or complex issues,” the filing notes.

“Asia Pacific Airlines currently operates both interstate charter, foreign charter, and foreign scheduled air transportation of property and mail throughout Micronesia and the Western Pacific, primarily transporting US mail and other freight for islands and communities in the region,” the application continues.

“Asia Pacific Airlines is making plans to commence scheduled service similar in scope and sophistication to its current operations to several potential destinations in open-skies countries.”

“Granting Asia Pacific Airlines open-skies authority is consistent with the public interest and will foster competition, improve transit for time-sensitive commodities, and strengthen the integration of US trade into the burgeoning Southeast Asian supply chain.”

“Grant of this authority is consistent with what the Department has awarded to various other airlines.”

You can read the Asia Pacific Airlines application here.

Photo: AI-Generated.

Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com