By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
TWO major South Korean low‑cost carriers will maintain summer service to Saipan, the Marianas Visitors Authority announced Thursday. MVA Managing Director Jamika Taijeron, joined by Board Chair Warren Villagomez and Tourism Recovery Task Force Chair Alex Sablan, confirmed the schedules during a press conference.
South Korea is the CNMI’s primary tourism market.
Taijeron said the commitments from T’way Air and Jeju Air secure the CNMI’s most important tourism lifeline. “Air service is the lifeline of tourism in the Marianas,” she said. “When people have the desire to travel and when our islands offer a great experience, air service is what connects everything and allows our visitor industry to thrive.”
T’way Air will operate daily flights between Korea and Saipan from March 29 through Oct. 28 without interruption. Taijeron said the MVA delegation traveled to Seoul after learning Korean partners were considering canceling their summer flights. “When we learned that there was a strong possibility our Korean airline partners would cancel, Board Chair Warren Villagomez, our MVA secretary Joe Guerrero, and I immediately traveled to Korea to meet with the airline partners directly,” she said.
Jeju Air also confirmed its summer schedule, though with a brief pause from March 29 to April 29 due to scheduling constraints. Daily flights will resume April 30 and continue through the end of the season. “T’way will continue operating its daily flights without interruptions,” Taijeron said. “But due to scheduling timing, Jeju will have a brief interruption from March 29 through April 29, and then daily flights will resume from April 30 onwards.”
Taijeron added that confusion over potential cancellations stemmed from premature statements that did not originate from MVA. “We felt the news didn’t officially come from MVA. It did come from HANMI,” she said, referring to the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands.
“There was some miscommunication and misrepresentation between local stakeholders and the airlines directly. MVA needed to step in to clarify and address that.” She noted that the inaccurate notice disrupted both commerce and individual travel planning before MVA intervened.
Sablan said the Legislature’s recent action strengthens MVA’s ability to negotiate with airlines and compete with regional destinations. Senate and House conferees agreed to release $1 million previously set aside during last year’s food stamp crisis, allocating $750,000 to MVA and $250,000 to the Public School System under its 25% requirement. “This additional funding will help MVA move forward using, for lack of a better term, a war chest to provide the necessary incentives,” he said.
Sablan added that Guam has discussed up to $60 million in tourism support, while the Marianas operates with far leaner resources, requiring MVA to be “very creative” in competing for air service. He also highlighted ongoing work by the Tourism Recovery Task Force to address current conditions on the ground. Sablan said he was grateful that Taijeron, Villagomez, and the MVA board have committed funding to improve the visitor experience in the short term. Longer-term efforts include exploring public-private partnerships to develop new attractions, such as a potential marina, fishing base, or other destination-enhancing projects on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. “The idea is to build out, to create destinations within the destination,” he said.
Villagomez said the confirmed summer flights strengthen MVA’s broader efforts to refresh the Marianas’ global branding and improve visitor experiences. He thanked the low-cost carriers for their continued support, especially after earlier confusion in the community. “We were able to mitigate the bad information that reached our community because it really disrupted commerce and individual travelers,” he said. He added that restored confidence in air service strengthens MVA’s position in ongoing negotiations with Korean carriers and Philippine Airlines. Villagomez also thanked the Legislature for recognizing MVA’s needs and providing appropriations that allow the agency to “come back and regain some economic improvements on the island.”
Taijeron said MVA must balance short-term survival with long-term destination development. “It’s really a balancing effort, and we have so few resources,” she said. “We’d love to focus on the long term, but we need something to hold us over in the short term.” She noted that without immediate support, more businesses could close and more residents could leave the islands.
Despite the challenges, Taijeron said visitor feedback consistently highlights the warmth of the local community. “Visitors say our destination exceeded their expectations, and it’s because of the community. It’s because of the people,” she said. She encouraged residents to continue welcoming travelers: “Greet all the tourists, talk story with them, welcome them, and give them that feeling that will make them want to return despite what our island looks like.”
With T’way Air and Jeju Air confirming their summer 2026 schedules, MVA sees the season as a stabilizing force for the tourism economy and a foundation for future growth — anchored in reliable air links, stronger business participation, and the “far from ordinary” hospitality of the Marianas.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
