Carriers increase flights to Japan

Airlines set to boost capacity as demand from Chinese travelers keeps surging

With a growing number of Chinese travelers taking trips to Japan, Chinese and Japanese carriers are launching more flights to connect the two countries.

During the winter-spring flying season from Oct 27 to March 28 of next year, there will be a total of 1,406 flights connecting China and Japan. That is 224 flights more than the past summer flying season, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan.

Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines plans to launch new three-times-a-week round trip services between Wuhan, Hubei province, and Tokyo, starting from Jan 4 next year.

The carrier said it will increase the capacity and launch more flights from Wuhan to other Japanese cities to meet the demand of residents flying for business, travel and to study abroad.

China Eastern will add to the frequency of its flights from Kunming, Yunnan province, to Osaka and make it a daily round-trip service from Jan 15 next year. The company is optimistic about the travel demand for those flights.

Shanghai-based Chinese budget carrier Spring Airlines has launched several new flights connecting China and Japan since Oct 27 when the flying season changed.

They include new flights between Xi'an, Shaanxi province, and Ibaraki, Xi'an and Saga, and Shanghai and Narita International Airport in Tokyo. Spring said it has also added to the frequency of flights that connect Xi'an and Osaka.

"Next year, Japan will hold the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, and we expect the travel demand from China to Japan will continue to grow," said Zhang Wu'an, vice-president and spokesman for Spring Airlines.

At this time, flights connecting Japan and China account for 27 percent of total international flights in Japan.

In comparison, carriers from Japan and South Korea recently canceled 501 flights and there are now 778 flights a week between the two nations. The number of South Korean travelers has declined following trade disputes between the two countries, said Japan's business newspaper Nikkei.

"The increasing capacity put in the routes between China and Japan will increase competition between airlines and pull down their profits. The flying rights between the two countries are scarce resources and carriers would like to grab them first. The profit-making is expected to get better in the next few years," said Lin Zhijie, an aviation industry analyst.

"For passengers, there will be more flight options and the flight ticket prices are likely to become cheaper. The number of travelers going to Japan is expected to continue to grow significantly," he added.

All Nippon Airways, Japan's largest airline, said it plans to launch new daily round-trip flights that connect Tokyo Haneda International Airport with Shenzhen and Qingdao from the summer of 2020. The flight to Shenzhen will be the first non-stop service from a Japanese airline.

"There is a growing demand of travelers visiting Japan and ANA will increase its international service. Haneda Airport will also expand to adapt to inbound Japanese tourism," said Seiichi Takahashi, senior vice-president of ANA.

From January to August, the number of Chinese travelers who visited Japan reached 6.58 million, up 13.6 percent year-on-year, the Japan National Tourism Organization said.