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PIA to boost night flights • Airline company eyes tie-up with Asiana to market the islands
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Posted on May 10 1999
Pacific Island Aviation is planning to increase its evening flights to Tinian from Saipan to meet the increased interest in Tinian Dynasty Casino’s packages.
According to Bob Christian, PIA chief executive officer, there have been so many requests for advance bookings for flights to Tinian and Rota from Guam as well as between Guam and Saipan after the airline signed a prorate agreement with Asiana Airlines.
Under the agreement, PIA and Asiana will carry out joint marketing efforts that will enable customers to fly between the Mariana Islands and Guam after arriving from Korea.
Christian said such effort would not have been made possible without the support of the Governor’s Aviation Task Force, the Commonwealth Ports Authority and the Marianas Visitors Authority due to certain cost factors. “I am increasingly encouraged by the cooperation of the CNMI government in promoting the area’s tourism,” he said.
Since last month, Asiana Airlines has decided to provide direct Seoul-Saipan service using a B767 six times a week beginning due to the increase in outbound travel from Korea. However, on July 21, 1999, Asiana will begin providing daily flights to Saipan.
As Korea slowly showed signs of economic improvement, many Koreans have started traveling abroad which led Asiana to increase visibility in the CNMI. For a long time, 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. Korea projects the honeymoon market to increase continuously as some 400,000 couples are expected to get married this year.
Visitor arrivals for the month of March showed an increase in Korean traffic by 114 percent due to the economic stability and a more stable exchange rate.
