After over a year since the suspension of Asiana Airlines flights to the CNMI, the airline is finally scheduled to return to Saipan starting July.<\/p>\n
The return of Korea\u2019s flagship airline to the CNMI was first reported by Korean media, with one report saying the airline will start with a once-a-week service to the island.<\/p>\n
Commonwealth Ports Authority board chair Kimberlyn King-Hinds said she is aware of a charter flight scheduled for July 17 and hopes to see regular flights in the near future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am aware that there\u2019s a charter flight scheduled to come on July 17. It is my hope to see regularly scheduled flights in the near future. Asiana is a valued partner of not just CPA but the entire CNMI and we are hopeful that we can come out of this pandemic better and stronger together,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
According to a Korea-based media outlet, Korea Joong Ang Daily, that could happen as soon as the middle of next month, with Asiana Airlines set to resume once-a-week flight service to Saipan starting July 24. The Asiana flight, which will reportedly use a 174-seater A321, expects to leave Incheon at 9am and return the same day, departing at 4pm from Saipan and arriving at Incheon at 7:40pm.<\/p>\n
Korea Joong Ang Daily reports that the airline hopes to activate international travel and the airline market with the resumption of the Saipan route as the first step. <\/p>\n
The report also states that Asiana Airlines plans to increase the number of available routes in response to talks with a number of countries, including Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand, to allow quarantine-free package tours for vaccinated people. <\/p>\n
Asiana Airlines suspended the Incheon-Saipan route in March 2020.<\/p>\n
Right now, 59.3% of the CNMI\u2019s eligible population has already been vaccinated and is has one of the lowest infection rates in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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