Asiana poised to boost Saipan run

Due to the increase in outbound travel from Korea, Asiana Airlines has decided to provide direct Seoul-Saipan service using a B767 six times a week beginning April 2.

However, on July 21, 1999, Asiana will begin providing daily flights to Saipan, according to Perry John Tenorio, managing director of the Marianas Visitors Authority.

“We are definitely seeing the recovery of the Korean market primarily due to the economic improvement in Korea,” Tenorio said. Currently, Asiana’s daily B 767 flight with 260 seats is shared by Guam and Saipan.

Commonwealth Ports Authority executive director Carlos H. Salas said Asiana’s decision to increase the frequency of flights to the Northern Marianas is a welcome relief to the shrinking tourism market.

The airline executives raised the possibility of providing charter flights from Pusan to Saipan because of the increasing honeymoon market there, Salas added.

Korea projects the honeymoon market to increase continuously as some 400,000 couples are expected to get married this year.

Asiana’s vice president for passenger marketing Young Kim and K.H Ryu general manager for passenger marketing and sales attended the meeting with MVA board chairman Dave M. Sablan, CPA board chairman Roman S. Palacios, Tenorio and Salas.

Airline executives said destinations like Hawaii and the United States are not as popular as Saipan, Guam, Malaysia and Bangkok for Korean tourists.

Since all Asiana flights will be arriving at around 1:30 am, Salas said the airline executives have requested the elimination of overtime charges from the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine offices.

Finance Secretary Lucy Nielsen and heads of Customs, Immigration and Quarantine offices have expressed willingness to support the recommendation of the ports authority to assist the airlines which are also reeling from the effects of Asia’s financial crisis.

Based on the visitor arrivals record of MVA, the Korean market started showing some signs of recovery in December 1998. But passenger demand jumped by 50 percent in January 1999 compared to the same period in 1998, Salas said.

In response to that big leap, Salas said Asiana was inspired to make a commitment to increase frequency of service which is a big boost not only to the island’s tourism economy but to the declining revenue of the ports authority.

Last February 4-7, Tenorio attended the wedding exhibition and met with Korean travel agents and media representatives. As part of its commitment to promote the Northern Marianas in Korea, the MVA board has allotted some $164,000 for marketing alone.

Despite the decline of the Korean economy due to the regional crisis, Tenorio noted that Asiana has stood by the CNMI as its partner in the tourism industry.