Japan lifts air travel restrictions for Golden Week and Spring Break

Japan’s airlines are once again ramping up their domestic services after they endured a major setback in the first part of 2021 due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. Now demand is being stimulated by an easing of restrictions by the government, just in time for two holiday periods that are typically peak travel windows in Japan.

Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) will be hoping that they can quickly regain the demand recovery momentum they were experiencing late in 2020, before the latest COVID-19 wave hit.

If they can, they should be able to move towards pre-pandemic levels of domestic capacity, as other countries such as Vietnam, China and New Zealand have done.

Summary:

• The key Tokyo market was the last to be removed from Japan’s COVID-19 state of emergency.
• Spring break and Golden Week will stimulate demand, but the Olympics effect will be subdued.
• Although schedules have been boosted for Golden Week, the key question is what happens after that.
• COVID-19 spikes have derailed domestic recoveries before – and could potentially do so again.
• Despite capacity volatility, Japan’s two busiest routes have stayed high in global rankings.