China has cancelled all scheduled flights on 49 air routes with Japan as the Chinese foreign ministry reiterated travel warnings, urging citizens to avoid visiting Japan, especially during the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday.

Data released by Chinese travel platform Flight Master showed cancellation rates for flights between mainland China and Japan reaching 47.2 per cent in January - a 7.8 percentage point increase from December 2025.

As of Monday (Jan 26), flights on 49 scheduled routes in February have been cancelled.

This includes 113 affected flights between Beijing’s Daxing International Airport and Osaka’s Kansai International Airport, as well as 13 flights between Shenzhen’s Bao’an International Airport and Hokkaido’s New Chitose Airport.

Chinese carriers including Air China, China Eastern and China Southern Airlines have also extended flight changes and refund policies for Japan-related travel until Oct 24.

Previously, the free refund and change policy was only applicable until Mar 28.

In a statement on Monday, Air China announced that tickets issued before Jan 26, covering travel dates between Mar 29 and Oct 24, to and from Japan, were eligible for flight changes or refunds.

The airline policies were first announced in November amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Tokyo following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks over Taiwan.

Takaichi said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could amount to a “survival-threatening situation” and trigger a potential military response from Tokyo.

JAPAN TRAVEL WARNING
China’s foreign ministry reiterated its warnings to citizens on Monday, urging them to avoid visiting Japan during the Chinese New Year holiday in February.

“Recently, public security in Japan has deteriorated, with frequent incidents of illegal and criminal acts targeting Chinese citizens,” the ministry’s Department of Consular Affairs said in a statement, adding that Chinese citizens in Japan would face “serious security threats”.

There has also been a series of earthquakes in some areas in the country, causing injuries, it said.

China has been Japan’s biggest source of tourists, with almost 7.5 million visitors reported in the first nine months of 2025 - making up a quarter of all foreign tourists, according to official figures.

Attracted by a weak yen, Chinese tourists generated an estimated US$3.7 billion in the third quarter, officials said.

The number of tourists from China in December dropped about 45 per cent from a year earlier to 330,000.

Source: CNA

- Agencies