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United Airlines kicked off its regular jet service between Guam and Saipan with a full flight last Friday.
The carrier is using a Boeing 737-800 jet aircraft with a capacity of 166 passengers to service the flight.
United's once-a-day service replaces its old service operated by code-share partner Cape Air Services.
The latter utilized the ATR 42, a twin-turboprop plane usually used for short-haul flights.
On the downside, the new United service doesn't fly to Rota unlike the one operated by Cape Air and this is unfortunate, according to Rota Senator Teresita Santos.
She said from now on people from Rota would need to go to Guam first to fly to Saipan, unless new inter-island flights are launched.
Medical referral services are also expected to suffer, as there are less flights to Guam. Cape Air used to have four daily flights to the US territory, which is used as a hub for connecting flights by patients and their loved ones going to medical referral to Hawaii, the US mainland, and the Philippines.
