Nearly 40% flights between Chinese mainland and Japan canceled in June

Airlines canceled around four in 10 scheduled flights between the Chinese mainland and Japan in June, industry data showed, underscoring a continued pullback in capacity on routes that have faced weaker demand since strained bilateral relations last year.

A total of 1,488 scheduled flights from the Chinese mainland to Japan were canceled during June, representing a cancellation rate of 37.5 percent, according to the Chinese civil aviation data provider Flight Master.

The data also showed that 25 China-Japan routes had all scheduled flights canceled during the month.

China issued travel advisories in mid-November discouraging trips to Japan after erroneous remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on China's Taiwan region. Since then, travel demand from the Chinese mainland has continued to weaken, and Chinese airlines have gradually reduced capacity on scheduled routes to Japan, particularly those tied to leisure travel.

Japan has also lagged other major Asian destinations in terms of recapturing Chinese air travel demand. Flight Master data showed that South Korea, Thailand and Japan ranked as the top three overseas destinations by flight volume in the first half of the year. Flights between the Chinese mainland and South Korea exceeded 2019 levels, while capacity to Thailand and Japan recovered to only 64.7 percent and 53.5 percent of pre-pandemic levels, respectively.

Separately, Japan raised the cost of visiting the country from July 1 by increasing both visa fees and its international tourist departure tax.

Japan's government announced on June 19 that the fee for a single-entry visa would rise to 15,000 yen ($104) from 3,000 yen, while the cost of a multiple-entry visa rose to 30,000 yen from 6,000 yen.

Japan also tripled its international tourist departure tax to 3,000 yen from 1,000 yen as of July 1. The tax is collected by airlines and other transport operators and is included in ticket prices.

The higher visa charges and departure taxes significantly increase the baseline cost of traveling to Japan for visitors who require visas and could add another headwind to demand during the peak summer travel season.