Flights to Hawaii, Saipan, Guam resume

An Asiana Airlines flight lands at Incheon International Airport [YONHAP]

International flights are taking off again — slowly and with restrictions.

Asiana Airlines announced Monday it will resume flights to Hawaii starting April 3. Its Hawaii route was halted in March 2020 due to Covid-19.

The carrier will fly the Incheon-Hawaii route three times a week. It hopes to increase the number of flights to one per day around July, if the pandemic situation allows.

Travelers need to submit the results of a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test taken a day before their flight and an English document showing their vaccination status. With those documents, they can enter Hawaii without having to quarantine.

When returning to Korea, they need to show another negative PCR test result taken within 48 hours before the flight back. Travelers will need to quarantine or self-isolate for 10 days.

Air Busan, a budget carrier 42.83 percent owned by Asiana Airlines, announced the same day that flights to Saipan will start Jan. 23. They are the first Saipan-bound flights for the carrier.

The carrier will offer flights between Gimhae International Airport in Busan and Saipan once a week.

Saipan is a travel bubble destination, exempting travelers from the 10-day mandatory quarantine if they submit a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours before the flight back to Korea.

But to enter, travelers need an antigen test taken within a day of departure and an English document proving their vaccination status.

Carriers can't fill more than 70 percent of the total seats on planes.

The Busan-based carrier plans more international flights.

“Based on Air Busan’s tight safety policies and following government regulations, we plan to continue to expand the scope of Gimhae International Airport’s international flights,” said a spokesperson for Air Busan.

Jeju Air's flights from Incheon to Saipan will resume on Jan. 29. Last December, the carrier restarted Busan-Saipan flights for the first time in 21 months.

The carriers are taking a cautious approach.

Jeju Air's Incheon-Guam flights are starting two times a week, and will return to four times weekly on Jan. 27 if the situation gets better.

T’way Air halted Incheon-Saipan flights starting Jan. 7, which the company said will resume after they monitor the spread of the Omicron variant. Air Seoul was to resume flights to Guam in Jan. 29, but pushed the date back to March 27.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr[