A Chinese tourist group stands near the Sensoji temple in Tokyo, Japan. Photo by Reuters
All scheduled flights on 49 air routes between China and Japan have been canceled for February as Chinese airlines extended special ticket change and refund policies for Japan-related travel.
Data from flight information platform Flight Master indicated that, all February flights on 49 China-Japan routes had been canceled as of Jan. 26, China Daily reported.
In January, the cancellation rate for flights from China to Japan stood at 47.2%, an increase of 7.8 percentage points from December.
Major Chinese airlines including Air China, China Eastern and China Southern Airlines, on Monday extended their free-of-charge change and cancellation policies for Japan-related flights until Oct. 24 this year, Reuters reported.
The airlines first announced the policies in November last year in the wake of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark in November suggesting that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo, AFP reported.
These airlines later extended them until this March.
The number of Chinese tourists to Japan plunged 45% in December, but overall tourist numbers to Japan hit a record high, Japan’s tourism minister said last week.
China on Monday warned its citizens against traveling to Japan during the Lunar New Year, its longest public holiday.
