The Island of Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth roughly 133 miles NE of Guam, nestled inside the Pacific Ocean.
US citizens can travel to the Northern Mariana Islands without the need for a passport if taking all domestic flights (ie. Hawaii-Guam-Saipan). Citizens of other countries can travel to Saipan under the same visa rules as traveling the the United States with the exception of 12 countries in the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program, who can travel to Saipan visa-free.
Saipan is just a hop away from East Asia
The Saipan international airport serves 3 locations (4th estimated March 2024)
- Seoul, South Korea
- Tokyo, Japan
- Guam, USA
- Hong Kong (Estimated route expected end of March, 2024)
Flights to East Asia are 4.5 hours at most
- Tokyo – 3.5 hours
- Seoul – 4.5 hours
- Guam – 45 minutes
- Hong Kong – 4 hours (Est)
Once in Hong Kong, Seoul, or Tokyo, flights to other parts of East Asia
will average less than 5 hours
- Seoul, South Korea to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – 5 hours
- Seoul, South Korea to Beijing, China – 2.5 hours
- Tokyo, Japan to Taipei, Taiwan – 4.5 hours
- Tokyo, Japan to Bangkok, Thailand – 5 hours
- Guam to Koror, Palau – 2 hours
- Guam to Manila, Philippines – 4 hours
- Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 4 hours
- Hong Kong to Singapore – 4 hours
Cost of flights from rom Saipan International Airport to…
- Incheon, South Korea
- $315 – Roundtrip – Non-stop
- Tokyo, Japan
- $515 – Roundtrip – 1-stop
- Guam
- $580 – Roundtrip – non-stop
- Hong Kong
- (Flight opens March 2024)