Over 490,000 air tickets from China to Japan canceled 

​Around 491,000 air tickets from China to Japan were canceled, accounting for 32 percent of bookings, according to Chinese airlines as of the day after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned citizens to refrain from visiting Japan last Friday (Nov 14). 

​The percentage of affected flights skyrocketed to 82.14 percent when counting solely on Sunday (Nov 16), with cancellations standing at 27 times compared to the new bookings. 

The affected rate reached 75.6 percent on Monday. 

​Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that Tokyo could take military action if China attacks Taiwan as that would cause a survival-threatening situation for Japan, which sparked a diplomatic dispute between China and Japan.

​“Recently, Japanese leaders have made blatantly provocative remarks regarding Taiwan, severely damaging the atmosphere for people-to-people exchanges and posing significant risks to the personal safety and lives of Chinese citizens in Japan,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement, following the Japanese Prime Minister’s Taiwan remarks.

​After the Chinese authorities issued the safety alert, major air companies -- including Air China, China Southern Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines, announced they would offer special refunds for Japan-bound flights.

​Notably, flights from Shanghai to Tokyo and from Shanghai to Osaka were the most affected by the cancellations, with estimated losses reaching over billions of yuan, 70 percent of which involved round-trip tickets.

​As the flights from the two countries are primarily provided by Chinese airlines, it is predicted that the impact on the Chinese aviation industry will be greater than on Japanese airlines.