Asiana suspends regular flights

Asiana Airlines has suspended its regular scheduled Incheon-Saipan flights indefinitely and is currently operating on a charter basis until June.

On Sunday, March 3, Asiana Airlines saw its last regular scheduled flight from Incheon to Saipan and is now operating on a charter basis only.

According to Hwang In-Tak, Asiana Airlines Saipan station manager said, Asiana’s Incheon-Saipan service has always been a regular scheduled flight up until Sunday.

“The last flight of the regular schedule was Sunday. We do have flights, but we are now operating as a charter flight until June. Operation days remain the same, twice a week. The schedule is twice a week, every Thursday morning and Sunday morning,” he said.

As of yesterday, there has been no confirmation from Asiana’s main headquarters in Korea if flights will continue past June, In-Tak said.

“We don’t have a plan to return to our regular schedule yet. So far, we will be operating on a charter basis up to June and then we will see from there. After June, there is no confirmation yet, but according to our headquarters, there might be an extension in operations because July and August are when we usually see the demand pick up,” he said.

When asked for the reason behind the sudden suspension of regular flights, In-Tak said it was due to low demand and the recent increase in the airport usage fees on Saipan.

Fortunately, In-Tak said, the CNMI administration has expressed its intent to help Asiana with the fees, although details about this remains unclear for now.

“We had suspended flights due to low demand of passengers, and also the charges at the airport. The government, however, is trying to help us in terms of these charges by adjusting them so that’s good news,” he said.

Back in September, the Commonwealth Ports Authority adopted a new rate methodology that reflected a 90% increase in landing fees and a 79% increase in terminal rental fees.

With the increase, the CPA terminal rental rates for the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport’s main terminal went up from $19.49 per square foot to $34.92. The terminal rental rates for all CNMI commuter terminals went up from $7.79 to $13.97.

As for landing fees, with the 90% increase, CPA now charges international airline carriers $15.25 per thousand lbs of certified maximum gross landing weight of the aircraft; they were previously being charged $8.01.

As for CNMI commuter terminals, the 90%-increase brought landing fees up from $4.81 to $9.15.

Aside from the rate increases, the CPA board also adopted an eight-hour cut for all CPA employees and suspended its airline incentive program.

In addition, CPA also increased the rates at the Saipan airport’s parking lot.