Asiana Airlines notified the Commonwealth Ports Authority last Friday that they would be suspending two of their evening flights to the CNMI for just two days due to low passenger loads. <\/p>\n
In an interview with CPA board chair Kimberlyn King-Hinds last Friday, Asiana Airlines confirmed they would be suspending the evening flights for Feb. 18 and 19 because of low passenger loads. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe just got a phone call this afternoon that [Asiana] will be suspending their Feb. 18 and 19 flights and these are the evening flights and will resume on Feb. 20 due to low passenger loads,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
King-Hinds explained that Asiana assured CPA that they would return to their normal schedule on Feb. 20. <\/p>\n
\u201c[Asiana] stated that they are going to resume on Feb. 20. I think what they\u2019re doing is moving travelers to another day so they can have a full load,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
According to King-Hinds, low passenger loads is unfortunately a worldwide trend at the moment, especially with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus that has instilled fear in people around the world. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are just scared to travel and being an economy that is completely reliant on the tourists arriving and spending their money here, and planes coming here, we\u2019re in for some serious hard times and people have to take a seriously hard look in terms of how to conserve finances at this point in time,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
King-Hinds said the issue with Asiana suspending two flights in two days is a clear indication of just how uncertain times are for everyone. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs we\u2019re sitting here discussing austerity measures, there\u2019s still a great deal of uncertainty in terms of whether the numbers we have adopted today are going to hold moving forward, given flights right now being so uncertain,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
In a previous interview, King-Hinds also wanted to clarify, in light of recent rumors, that Asiana will only be canceling their seasonal flights starting March 1, but it is not because of the novel coronavirus. <\/p>\n
\u201cSeasonally [Asiana] provides extra flights and so they provided extra afternoon flights for the winter season. Winter season is coming to an end and because it\u2019s coming to an end, they\u2019re back to normal schedule. They are just following procedure,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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