Short-term Travel Packages Available from March 16
Travel Bubble Areas Reduce Schedule and Cost Burdens
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The air route between Busan and Saipan is expanding.
Air Busan will increase its Busan~Saipan route from once a week to twice a week.
Following the quarantine authorities and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's decision to increase the Busan~Saipan route by one flight per week, Air Busan announced on the 22nd that it will add a flight every Wednesday starting March 16 to the existing once-a-week Sunday flight.
Air Busan's Busan~Saipan route, which began operations at the end of January, is a travel bubble route exempt from quarantine, but it maintained a limited operation frequency of once a week.
As a result, only long-term travel packages of 7 nights and 8 days could be offered, making it a 'regrettable' route that faced difficulties in sales.
In fact, at Incheon Airport, many airlines operate at least twice a week, and during the recent Lunar New Year holiday, the average load factor was around 70%, but Air Busan's load factor during the same period was reported to be less than 30%.
With this increased operation, travel packages of 3 nights and 4 days or 4 nights and 5 days can now be offered from Gimhae Airport, just like Incheon Airport.
This is expected to invigorate Saipan tourism by reducing the cost and schedule burden for local residents.
Air Busan's additional flights will be deployed starting March 16. Both twice-weekly flights depart from Gimhae International Airport at 8:00 AM and arrive at Saipan International Airport at 1:10 PM.
The return flight departs from the local airport at 3:10 PM and arrives at Gimhae International Airport at 6:30 PM. The flight time is approximately 4 hours, and the next-generation aircraft Airbus A321neo will be used.
According to the Mariana Tourism Authority, Saipan currently has a 100% COVID-19 second vaccination rate, making safe overseas travel possible. Additionally, a travel bubble agreement with South Korea exempts travelers from self-quarantine upon return.
The Mariana Tourism Authority will fully cover the local PCR test fees for Korean travelers entering Saipan until May.
Through this increased Saipan operation, Air Busan plans to continuously expand international routes at Gimhae Airport. Although the spread of COVID-19 variants such as Omicron continues, the airline intends to gradually restore flights in accordance with overseas entry restrictions and domestic quarantine guidelines.
Air Busan CEO Ahn Byung-seok said, “The route increase was made possible through cooperation with quarantine authorities, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Busan City,” adding, “We expect significant improvement in travel convenience for local residents and will continue to promote the recovery of international flights at Gimhae Airport in line with quarantine policies.”
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