By Bryan Manabat
bryan@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
DENNIS Seo, chairman of the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands and board member of the Marianas Visitors Authority, said HANMI and MVA are coordinating with CNMI and Korean stakeholders to increase flights to Saipan.
Seo’s remarks follow HANMI’s report of a sharp 30% decline in hotel occupancy from August 2024, marking the lowest non-pandemic August rate since tracking began in 1992. Of 64,012 available room nights, only 19,895 were sold in August 2025.
In an interview Thursday, Seo attributed the drop in Korean arrivals to the Korean Air–Asiana Airlines merger, which triggered a mandated oversupply of seats to Guam. To meet a 90% seat quota under the merger, Korean Air and its affiliate Jin Air ramped up service to Guam, operating up to six daily flights from Seoul.
“Simply put, they cannot fill all the seats,” Seo said. “They are dumping their prices compared to other airlines servicing the route. Korean Air round-trip fares to Guam used to be $400 to $500, and now they’re down to about $250 to meet merger obligations.”
Seo said budget carriers such as T’Way and Jeju Air have struggled to compete with those prices and fill seats.
“As a result, we’re only getting about 600 air seats a day to Saipan, compared to Guam’s 3,000,” he said. “Jeju Air pulled out of its regular Guam service and now only flies to Saipan. They wanted to maintain the route, but demand isn’t there due to the oversupply to Guam. Jeju increased its Saipan fares to over $500 to cover operating costs.”
Seo said the higher ticket prices are hurting hotel businesses and reducing Korean visitor numbers.
He added that MVA, HANMI, and the Office of the Governor are working together to develop solutions. One proposal involves filing a petition with the Korea Fair Trade Commission and the Korea Department of Transportation to reconsider the merger’s seat quota obligations.
One initiative under discussion is a Korea-Saipan-Guam flight route that would allow Korean Air to count seats toward its quota.
“We’re asking for their consideration to allow Korea-Saipan-Guam flights,” Seo said. “For example, tourists could stay two nights in Saipan and two nights in Guam. Korean Air could count those seats under the merger. This is a very doable initiative, and the airlines are interested.”
Seo said a CNMI tourism delegation, including the governor, plans to meet with South Korean officials and stakeholders later this month.
