Asiana upgrades plane for its Saipan flights
While other airlines are pulling out or downsizing their operations in the Northern Marianas, Asiana Airlines recently upgraded its aircraft for the Saipan service.
Starting Sept. 15, 2005 through March 25, 2006, Asiana will be using the 310-seater Boeing 777 aircraft for its service between Seoul and Saipan.
The airline is currently utilizing Boeing 767 airplanes, with 260 seats, for the route.
Asiana operates daily flights between Saipan and Seoul.
Kwang Joong Kim, local station manager of Asiana Airlines, said the air carrier hopes to increase passenger demand through the sale of via-Incheon packages from China and Japan.
“We at Asiana have recognized the ongoing promotional efforts of the CNMI with the Korea market. We understand that there is a potential, through their efforts for an increase of incoming visitors from Korea,” Kim said.
Earlier, Asiana announced plans to provide via-Seoul flights between Japan and Saipan starting October 2005. On the same month, Japan Airlines will suspend scheduled flights from Tokyo and Osaka to Saipan.
Kim had said that the airline was looking at tapping the Japanese travel markets of Sendai, Toyama, Fukuoka, Yonago, and Fukushima for the via-Seoul service.
He had expressed confidence that the service would receive a favorable response from Japanese travelers, especially those who have to fly to Tokyo, Osaka, or Nagoya in order to access Saipan flights.
“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 Incheon,” Kim had noted.
Kim had 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.
Asiana operates 22 routes to and from 17 cities in China.
