Korean Air Considers Suspending Flights on Japan Routes Except Incheon-Narita

Confusion in the Aviation Industry Amid Strengthened Japan Entry Controls

On the 4th, disinfection workers from a quarantine company are disinfecting a Korean Air passenger plane bound for New York at the Korean Air aircraft maintenance hangar at Incheon International Airport. / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] Korean Air is reportedly considering suspending all flights to Japan except for the Incheon~Narita (Tokyo) route. This measure comes as Japanese authorities have tightened entry restrictions on passengers arriving from Korea due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

According to the aviation industry on the 6th, Korean Air is reviewing a plan to suspend 9 out of the 10 currently operating routes to Japan from March 9 to 28. If this happens, Korean Air will be left with only one route to Japan, Incheon~Narita.

Currently, Korean Air operates 10 routes: Incheon~Narita, Busan~Narita, Incheon~Haneda (Tokyo), Gimpo~Haneda, Incheon~Kansai (Osaka), Gimpo~Kansai, Incheon~Fukuoka, Busan~Fukuoka, Incheon~Nagoya, and Incheon~Sapporo.

Korean Air’s consideration of a large-scale suspension of Japan routes is due to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision the day before to enforce a 14-day quarantine for foreigners arriving from Korea and China, strengthening entry controls. Additionally, Prime Minister Abe limited flights from Korea and China to Narita and Kansai airports.

Following Korean Air, other airlines are also expected to pursue plans to suspend or reduce flights to Japan for the time being. An industry official said, "As countries worldwide tighten entry restrictions on passengers from Korea, the importance of Japan routes had relatively increased, so this is quite frustrating," adding, "We can only wait for the COVID-19 situation to be resolved as soon as possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.