International flight bookings showing signs of recovery

Jiji-Press

17:00 JST, April 23, 2022

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Bookings for international flights during the Golden Week holiday period are showing signs of recovery on some routes, according to data released by major Japanese airlines on Friday.

Reservations for domestic flights during the April 29-May 8 period were robust after the government fully removed its COVID-19 pre-emergency measures last month.

The number of people who made reservations for domestic flights climbed 66.5% from a year before to 2,217,470.

Bookings for Japan Airlines’ domestic flights doubled, recovering to 75% of reservations in 2019, before the pandemic. Domestic flight reservations for ANA Holdings Inc.’s All Nippon Airways rose 46.9%. The number of people who booked international flights for the holiday period jumped by nearly fivefold to 134,837 after border restrictions were eased in some areas of the world.

Bookings for JAL’s flights between Japan and Hawaii increased ninefold. “It is clear that international flights are showing signs of regaining popularity,” a JAL official said.

Compared with 2019, however, reservations were 73% lower at JAL and 77% lower at ANA.