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Asiana to the rescue
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Posted on Aug 03 2005
Seeing an opportunity from Japan Airlines’ withdrawal from the Commonwealth, Asiana Airlines will provide via-Seoul flights between Japan and Saipan starting October 2005.
Asiana-Saipan general manager Kwang Joong Kim said yesterday that the Korean air carrier was in the process of offering service between Saipan and various Japanese cities, with one stop at Inchon International Airport.
Asiana flies 19 routes to and from 15 cities in Japan. But for the Saipan service, the airline is looking at tapping particular travel markets in Sendai, Toyama, Fukuoka, Yonago, and Fukushima.
Kim reported that a trial operation of such Japan-Saipan flights received a favorable response from Japanese tourists a month and a half ago. For this reason, he said he was confident that the new service would succeed.
Another factor that could contribute to the success of such via-Inchon service was the high domestic airfares in Japan, Kim said. “Most people who want to visit Saipan, but live outside Narita, Osaka or Nagoya, have to pay a lot for domestic flights. It’s actually more expensive to take domestic flights than to travel from a city in Japan to Inchon,” he noted.
He added that the extra shopping time during the Inchon transit was also expected to prove attractive for Japanese travelers.
According to Kim, Asiana’s head office in Seoul is now preparing the tickets from the new service, which will begin shortly after JAL ceases operating its regular flights to Saipan effective Oct. 4, 2005.
Kim also disclosed Asiana’s plan to provide a similar service from China to Saipan. However, this proposal remains subject to the resolution of Chinese entry issues with the CNMI government.
Currently, only two travel companies are allowed to process visitor entry permits for Chinese tourists.
“Only nonresident workers can come here from China via Inchon right now; ordinary tourists cannot. But if the government permits, many Chinese people will be coming here. Our travel agents in China say they can send many travelers here if there is no visa problem,” Kim said.
Asiana operates 22 routes to and from 17 cities in China.
