Saipan Air, scheduled to commence operations on July 1, will initially operate between Beijing-Saipan four times weekly. From August, it will also operate three times a week to Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province.

Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean.

Together with the Shanghai-Saipan and Guangzhou-Saipan flights, which have operated for 10 years, there will be 13 direct flights from China to Saipan every week.

Since November 2009, Saipan adopted a visa-free policy for Chinese nationals, attracting an increasing number of Chinese tourists.