ASIANA Airlines on Saturday celebrated the 30th anniversary of its flight service between Saipan and Incheon and vowed to continue “a thriving partnership” with the CNMI.
Joining Asiana Airlines Regional Sales Office General Manager Intak Hwang were Marianas Visitors Authority Vice Chairwoman Gloria Cavanagh, Managing Director Priscilla M Iakopo; Commonwealth Ports Authority Chair Kimberlyn King-Hinds, Executive Director Christopher Tenorio, board members Pete P. Reyes, Thomas Villagomez, Roman Tudela and Joseph M. Diaz, Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider, Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez and Tan Holdings Corp. President and CEO Jerry Tan.
Also attending the celebration were staff members of Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport and Asiana Airlines.
Hwang thanked all of them, saying he was glad to celebrate the 30th anniversary of servicing the Saipan-Incheon route with them.
He also thanked Asiana Airlines’ partners and patrons in the CNMI. “We have been able to build strong relationships and contribute to the island’s well-being and success,” he added.
Charter flights
Asiana Airlines’ corporate office also sent its own message which Hwang read:
“First and foremost, we would like to thank everyone for making the time to join us today in celebrating the 30th anniversary of Asiana’s flight service to Saipan.
“While regular operations were paused for one year and three months during the pandemic, we oversaw a total of 10 special charter flights for CNMI residents and the transportation of Covid medical equipment. The first to start a travel bubble with the CNMI and Korean government, we resumed regular operations once again since July 24th of last year.
“We were able to bring stability to CNMI tourism in light of the pandemic as the island’s representative airline during this period, thanks to the support of the CNMI government, MVA and CPA.
“It is quite an honor to be here celebrating the 30th anniversary of our SPN-ICN route and our three decades of close partnership with the island of Saipan as the long and dark tunnel of Covid begins to come to an end.
“Asiana Airlines hopes to continue its legacy as the top airline providing safe and comfortable travel between Saipan and Korea and we will give our best as always to fulfill that goal. We wish to emerge from this pandemic together with a thriving partnership, stronger than ever, built on trust and cooperation between Korea and the CNMI.”
Global airline
Tan Holdings Corp. President and CEO Jerry Tan, who also co-chairs the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors, noted that Asiana Airlines’ parent company, Kumho Asiana Group, expanded its investment ventures in the CNMI by acquiring LaoLao Bay Golf & Resort.
He said Asiana Airlines provides CNMI residents more than just a flight service between Saipan and Incheon.
Asiana Airlines, he added, offers the best connecting flights from Incheon to the rest of Asia, and even to Europe and almost everywhere in the world.
“As you know, Asiana Airlines is a global airline. That is actually another big service to our residents who need to go somewhere other than just Incheon,” Tan said.
A very long time
Marianas Visitors Authority Vice Chairwoman Gloria Cavanagh said a company as large as Asiana Airlines has served Saipan for 30 years which is, she added, “fantastic.”
She said Asiana Airlines has been here “through thick and thin if you remember everything that has happened over the last 30 years.”
Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez said 30 years is a very significant number of years of commitment and partnership.
On behalf of his colleagues in the House of Representatives and the people of the Commonwealth, he extended his appreciation to Asiana Airlines.
Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider thanked Asiana Airlines for the long years of partnership and commitment which are crucial to the well-being and livelihood of the island community.
This partnership, he added, serves as a “driving force” for the CNMI. “We the CNMI people are resilient, and we never give up. I am confident that for the next few years this partnership will flourish one more time,” he said.
Asiana Airlines Regional Sales Office General Manager Intak Hwang, center, poses for a photo with CNMI, Commonwealth Ports Authority and Marianas Visitors Authority officials during a celebration of the airlines’ 30th anniversary of its Saipan flight service at the Francisco C. Ad/Saipan International Airport on Saturday.
