ANA and JAL report 11,000 cancellations on Japan-China routes
Japan Airlines President Masaru Onishi stated the carrier has received about 3600 cancelations on China services amid escalating tensions between the nations (Channel News Asia/Kyodo/Bloomberg/AFP, 19-Oct-2010). Approximately 3000 of the cancellations were from Japan with the carrier stating it may downsize aircraft used on Japan-China routes or even eliminate services as a result of the reduced demand. ANA stated it has had around 7500 cancellations between 17-Sep-2010 and 12-Oct-2010 of which approximately 60% were passengers from Japan for a combined 11,100 cancellations between the nation's largest two carriers. China's Xiamen C&D Travel stated its Fuzhou branch along with several other travel agencies in Fuzhou have temporarily suspended tours to Japan due to safety concerns amid the tensions (Carnoc.com, 19-Oct-2010). Shenzhen Airlines previously announced plans to temporarily suspend its daily Fuzhou-Tokyo service between 18-Oct-2010 and 26-Oct-2010).
Japan Airlines: "Since last year we've been decreasing flights to China. We're not sure how many more flights we can cut. We will keep our eyes on passenger counts on a daily basis and we are considering making decisions on a monthly basis," Masaru Onishi, President. Source: Channel News Asia, 19-Oct-2010.