Palau Asia Pacific Air to launch Taiwan-Saipan flights

Palau Asia Pacific Air (Koror) will launch charter flights between Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands and Taipei Taoyuan in June 2019, Taiwan News has reported.

The service will mark the resumption of direct air connectivity between Taiwan and Saipan after a 12-year gap. Flights will operate three times every two weeks.

Palau Asia Pacific Air is a virtual carrier, a successor to the bankrupt Palau Pacific Airways (ED, Koror). It currently charters a single A320-200 from Cambodia's Sky Angkor Airlines (ZA, Phnom Penh), XU-718 (msn 1595), to run flights from Koror to Hong Kong Int'l and Macau Int'l. The airline said it will also use an A320 for the Saipan-Taipei route.

According to the ch-aviation capacity module, Saipan currently sees scheduled services to South Korea, Guam Int'l, Hong Kong, and mainland China.

Palau Asia Pacific Air commences operations

Palau Asia Pacific Air (Koror) has commenced flight operations using an A320-200 chartered from Cambodia's Sky Angkor Airlines (ZA, Phnom Penh).

Since the beginning of the month, the Palau-based virtual carrier has been using XU-718 (msn 1595) to run flights from Hong Kong Int'l and Macau Int'l to Koror.

An airline representative told The Island Times that the restoration of direct flights from Hong Kong and Macau to Palau would help offset the passenger traffic lost as a result of China's downgrading of the island state in 2018.



The diplomatic spat, brought on by Palau's refusal to switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China, played a significant role in the collapse of Palau Pacific Airways (ED, Koror).