Korean Air cuts Saipan flights to four

There’s good news and there’s bad news.

A day after China Southern Air launched its maiden flight to Saipan, Korean Airlines announced that it will reduce flight frequency to the Northern Marianas beginning next month.

The Korean Air’s decision was made to defray rising operational costs amid a decline in passenger haul during the lean season, the Commonwealth Ports Authority disclosed yesterday.

Salas said the Seoul-based airline company will reduce its nonstop Korea-Saipan flights from seven to four times a week. However, this is just a temporary measure taken by the Korean Air since the month of May is a traditionally low season.

He said Korean Air would resume the daily nonstop Korea-Saipan flights in June. ” Korean Air is experiencing a low load factor during this non-peak period. Basically, the airline company proposed that during low peak season, KAL will reduce its flights to four and return to normal air transport service during the peak season.”

The lean season, he said, usually runs from February to May and August and September. The travel industry picks up again in October to January every year.

Salas pointed out the need for increased promotional activities during the lean season to encourage tourists to travel, thereby, helping signatory airline companies recoup their investments.

He added that Korean Air officials have requested the CNMI to intensify its promotions in Korea during non-peak seasons to entice more travelers to visit the Northern Marianas.

Compared with other carriers, Korean Air’s roundtrip ticket is about $35 cheaper.

“We have to drum up our marketing efforts in Korea and other market to lure more tourists to visit the Northern Marianas. We need to push for more promotional activities especially that Korean Air will bring its direct flights from Pusan’s new airport,” Salas added.

Korean Air made its inaugural flight to the Northern Marianas in January 2002 using an Airbus 330. With the resumption of Korean Air’s services, the Northern Marianas is looking at a total of 8,176 seats every month. From Korea alone, the CNMI projects an additional 123,000 tourists in a year.

Based on the visitor arrivals record of the Marianas Visitors Authority, the Korean market started showing some signs of recovery in December 1998. Passenger demand jumped by more than 50 percent since the beginning of 1999.

The MVA recorded a consistent significant improvement since October 2001 as the Korean market continues to post a double-digit growth since the resumption of Korean Air’s daily flights.

Arrivals from Korea registered a 94 percent increase with 8,175 visitors in February 2002 compared with 4,213 visitors in February 2001.