Asiana adds 3 more flights to Saipan

After upgrading its aircraft for its daily flights to Saipan, Asiana Airlines disclosed it would add three more flights to the island from Seoul due to rising travel demand in Korea.

At the same time, Asiana disclosed that it has begun tapping into the Japanese market since the beginning of the month to partly fill the void following the pullout of Japan Airlines’ flights to Saipan. The carrier has also begun servicing Chinese and Russian tourists to the CNMI via Seoul.

Asiana’s general manager for Saipan, Kwang Joong Kim, said the company would target around 20,000 tourists from Japan, China, and Russia, besides boosting the growth trend in Korean arrivals.

Kim said the additional three flights weekly would begin this coming Friday until March 1, 2006. He said Asiana would maintain or increase its flights to Saipan if travel demand continues to rise.

The new flights will arrive on Saipan every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 2:50am. Kim said Asiana would be using Airbus 321 aircraft with seat capacity of 177, which translates to an additional 2,124-seat capacity every month.

The new flights augment the one flight daily from Seoul to Saipan via Asiana’s Boeing 777, which has seat capacity of 310. Asiana has upgraded its aircraft since September from the 260-seat Boeing 767. Together with the three additional flights, total seat capacity reaches close to 11,000 monthly, with Asiana increasing the number of incoming flights to 10 weekly.

“Korean travel demand is increasing. We did many things to promote this route,” Kim said. “Many Koreans now come here to play golf than ever.”

While travel to the CNMI declined tremendously following JAL’s pullout, Marianas Visitors Authority statistics show that the Korean market achieved 38-percent growth in November, with some 6,503 visitors coming to the islands, almost a couple thousand greater than November 2004’s 4,723 Korean tourists.

Diversifying the tourist markets

Kim also said Asiana has developed the Chinese and Russian markets through flights via Inchon International Airport. Last November, Kim said Asiana, along with the MVA and the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands, supported destination study on Saipan by tour agents from 17 major cities in China.

Kim also said tour agents from Almaty and Khabarovsk in Russia have also toured Saipan. At least 81 Russians visited the CNMI last November, based on MVA statistics.

“Travel agencies are very excited about this place—clean, beautiful and safe. The CNMI matches the place that they are looking for getaway, especially during winter,” Kim said.

“Russians enjoy relaxation. They don’t like looking around much. They like staying in one place to relax. This place is the best place for them,” he added.

Kim said Asiana has invited travel agents from another Russian city, Sakhalinsk, this January. He said travel agents from that city, which has cold weather all-year-round, has already promised to visit the CNMI to inspect the destination.

Kim said Asiana wants to meet its target of bringing in some 8,000 tourists from Russia, and 10,000 tourists from China in 2006, in addition to Chinese tourists coming to the CNMI via chartered flights of China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines. “[The target] is very possible,” Kim said with optimism.

“We rely much on the Japanese market. We must diversify our markets that will even lure more travelers,” Kim said.

“If there is only one [group of] foreigners in one place, it’s not interesting. If there are many foreigners, the place is very interesting,” he added. “I’m very positive for the CNMI because we have the most beautiful sea in the world, clean air, and [it’s] safe. We have many assets.”

Dipping into the Japanese market

Kim said Asiana has also begun bringing in tourists from four Japanese cities—Sendai, Fukushima, Toyama, and Kumamoto—since early December. Japanese visitors come to Saipan via Asiana flights to Seoul.

Asiana disclosed that it is developing travel packages for the Japanese market by promoting Korea and the CNMI at the same time.

“Travelers from those Japanese cities had to transfer to Osaka or Narita [Tokyo] to come to the CNMI [via the terminated JAL flights],” Kim said. “They can come here via Inchon airport at lower fares. They can enjoy shopping in Korea and traveling to the CNMI. They can enjoy both destinations.”

Kim, however, placed a conservative estimate on Asiana’s target Japanese visitors in 2006 at 3,000 tourists, saying that the company wants to take part in filing the void left by JAL.

The significant drop in Japanese arrivals to the CNMI in November following the JAL’s pullout of its regular flights to Saipan in October has resulted in an overall decline in the Commonwealth’s tourism industry.

With only 21,893 Japanese visiting the islands in November, total tourist arrivals for the month reached only 35,267, declining by 19.65 percent—or 8,623 tourists—from November 2004’s 43,890. Japanese tourists, the CNMI’s top market, totaled 30,454 in November 2004 and dived by 28 percent this year.

The CNMI’s tourism industry players have expressed concern that JAL’s pullout would result in a loss of nearly one-third of the Japanese market, which is equivalent to over a hundred thousand Japanese tourists yearly.