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‘Asiana to maintain its regular flights’
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Posted on Feb 07 2006
Asiana Airlines intends to concentrate on keeping its regular scheduled flights at the moment, but it is ready to increase flight frequency as soon as there is demand for additional capacity, the carrier’s top local official said yesterday.
According to Asiana-Saipan general manager Kwang Joong Kim, the airline’s daily flights between Saipan and Seoul are currently enough to serve the needs of the Korean tourism market.
The only airline providing nonstop service between Korea and the Northern Marianas, Asiana’s aircraft have been flying only 75- to 80-percent full since last month. “This is supposed to be peak season. But our load factor is low, compared with other Asiana destinations such as Bangkok, Manila, and Hanoi,” Kim said.
For this reason, Asiana decided in late December 2005 to withdraw its plan to operate extra flights between Saipan and Seoul. The airline had planned on operating the charter flights until March 1.
Asiana’s regular flights, however, continue to operate, Kim stressed.
“Right now, we want to concentrate on keeping our big flight. We don’t want to go back to using smaller aircraft for this route,” he said.
Currently, Asiana is utilizing the 310-seat Boeing 777 aircraft for its Saipan service—an upgrade from the 260-seat Boeing 767 airplanes previously used for the route.
“We are ready to put in additional flights anytime, if the demand is there. Supply is not a problem at this time; we have enough seats for the Korea market. What we need is the demand,” Kim said.
The Asiana official also reported efforts by the airline company to stimulate tourism to the Commonwealth by tapping not only the Korea market, but also the Japan, China and Russian markets.
About 160 passengers from Toyama, Japan will travel to Saipan this month using Asiana’s via-Seoul service. The airline is also actively promoting Saipan in other Japan cities such as Sendai, Takamatsu, and Yumamoto.
Beginning April 2006, Asiana will reserve about 60 seats per week for tourists coming from Chinese markets including Shanghai, Changchun, Harbin, and Tianjin.
The airline is looking at doing the same thing for the Russian market.
