Japan has asked domestic and foreign carriers to further limit international arrivals, as the country’s quarantine facility capacity runs low.
Domestic carriers, including All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL), are now subject to a weekly cap of 3,400 arrivals, a decrease of 84 per cent.
Foreign carriers’ quotas have also been cut by two-thirds to 100 passengers for each inbound flight, according to Nikkei Asia.
During the onset of the pandemic, the Japanese government had imposed a similar limit before relaxing the numbers to 3,000 daily arrivals for Japanese airlines and 300 passengers per flight for foreign carriers.
The tightened limit follows a request by Japan’s health ministry, which manages the quarantine programme. Currently, inbound travellers from high-risk countries are required to isolate for three days in designated facilities, which are nearing capacity.
“In accordance with instructions from the Japanese government to limit the number of passengers entering Japan, we are currently limiting the number of seats available for reservation,” said a notice on Japan Airlines’ website.
“This means that there may be no seats showing available when making a new reservation or making changes to an existing reservation on JAL group flights arriving into Japan. Additionally, if you already have a reservation on a JAL flight, there is a possibility you may not be able to enter Japan due to the restrictions.”
New reservations for JAL flights from London, Paris, and Frankfurt have been suspended altogether, according to JAL.
Meanwhile, ANA has suspended ticket sales for international flights to Japan until March 21.
An airline spokesperson told Business Traveller its incoming passenger caps are “likely to change and fluctuate on a daily basis”.
