Chinese airlines offer Japan flight refunds as row over Takaichi comments intensifies
Air China, China Southern and China Eastern among seven carriers to offer refunds hours after Beijing urges nationals to avoid Japan trips
Major Chinese airlines are offering full refunds for flights to Japan after Beijing told Chinese citizens to avoid travelling there, while Hong Kong authorities also urged residents to exercise caution in the country.
Air China, China Southern, China Eastern, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines and Spring Airlines issued separate statements on Saturday saying they would allow free ticket refunds or itinerary changes for flights booked until December 31.
Most of the policies apply to tickets bought before noon on Saturday, with only Sichuan Airlines extending the cut-off to 2pm.
The announcements came hours after China’s foreign ministry issued a statement on Friday night urging Chinese tourists to avoid travelling to Japan “in the near term”.
The safety of Chinese citizens in Japan had “continued to deteriorate”, the ministry said, citing a series of targeted attacks this year.
It added that the Japanese leader’s “provocative remarks” on Taiwan-related issues had severely undermined the atmosphere for Sino-Japanese exchanges and posed “significant risks” to the safety of Chinese citizens in Japan.