There seems to be no end to the current boom in inbound visitors to Japan.
NHK reported on Sunday that international flights arriving at Kansai airport will reach record levels during this year’s summer peak, with routes to and from the US, Europe and China to exceed 1,500 flights a week in August.
According to the flight schedule for 31 March to 26 October 2019 published by the operating company of Kansai Airport, regularly scheduled international flights during August are forecast at 1,403 a week and cargo at 145 routes, bringing the total to 1,548.This represents an increase of 166 flights per week over the previous year.
The reason for the increase is increased routes to the UK and the United States with British Airways operating four direct flights to London for the first time in 20 years, and Delta running seven flights to Seattle a week for the first time in six years.
Further, it is forecast that there will be an additional 107 flights over the same period last year due to flights connecting to China’s mainland.
Kansai airport commented, “Kansai is an attractive tourist destination for foreign travelers. We intend to enhance our network and improve the attraction of using our airport to visit Japan.”