Fares to Japan sky-high amid tourism deficit

Fares to Japan sky-high amid tourism deficit

2023-10-23

Airfares to Japan are sky-high as Taiwan struggles with a tourism deficit. As of August, 2.62 million visits were recorded from Taiwan to Japan. But there were just 500,000 visits the other way around, resulting in a tourism imbalance of more than 5 times. The deficit is reflected in ticket prices. Ahead of the 2023 Taipei International Travel Fair, airlines have announced very few discounts for Japan, with some flight prices even going up instead of dropping.

Portable Wi-Fi devices are now available to rent at Taipei Songshan Airport. The new service targets passengers on direct flights to Tokyo International Airport.

Member of public
Going from a city airport to another city airport saves a lot of time, whether you’re calling a cab or taking mass transit.

Member of public
I don’t so much care about the cost. Convenience matters to me more.

Currently, four airlines run direct flights to Tokyo International Airport. Besides Taiwan’s EVA Air and China Airlines, there’s Japan Airlines and ANA. Each has two roundtrip flights a day. Passenger load factors have been exceptionally high, with Japanese carriers exceeding 90% due to their vast offering of connecting flights.

Wang Fu-min
Japan Airlines’ Taiwan office head
Before the pandemic, many Taiwanese airlines flew directly to Japan’s local airports. Unfortunately, due to manpower shortages at local airports during the pandemic, not all of those direct flights have been restored. But this issue doesn’t affect Japan Airlines’ domestic routes – there is no manpower shortage at any connecting airport.

How strong is Taiwan’s love for Japan? As of this August, the number of visits to Japan reached 2.62 million. In contrast, fewer than 500,000 Japanese tourists made it to Taiwan, marking a tourism deficit of 5.3 times. The contrast is also reflected in airfare. For the upcoming Taipei International Travel Fair, China Airlines won’t discount tickets to popular Japan destinations. It even plans to raise airfare to Sapporo by nearly NT$2,000. EVA Air will keep prices steady for Tokyo and Osaka routes, but slightly raise the cost of departing from Taipei. Bucking the trend, Starlux Airlines will offer a 12% discount across all routes, with savings of up to NT$3,700 for flights to Sendai Airport.

Gary Oba
Airfare expert
In terms of fares for Taiwan-Japan flights, discounts at ITF will be limited, mainly because Japanese routes are too popular. The real deals will be for the Southeast Asian and South Korea routes.

With the November travel fair approaching, airlines have unveiled their offerings. Travelers can still stand to save cash by doing their homework and shopping around.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

台日觀光逆差逾5倍日本熱門航點機票"不減反漲"

2023-10-23

台灣人愛去日本旅遊，截至八月已經有262.3萬人次訪日，其中從松山直飛東京羽田機場的航線，因為是城市機場對飛、便利性高，載客率幾乎都有九成以上，熱門程度卻也反映在票價上，年度最大檔的ITF旅展，松羽線幾乎沒有促銷，還有部分航空的日本熱門航點，票價不減反漲。

出國用的WiFi機，現在免排隊就能自助取還，進駐松山機場，就是看準直飛東京羽田，這條航線的便利性和商機。

[[民眾]]
“城市機場飛城市機場來講的話，不管你是拉車或搭大眾交通工具，其實省很多時間”

[[民眾]]
“比較不會去管貴不貴，就是方便比較重要”

目前"松羽線"，共有4家航空經營，除了國籍的長榮、華航外，還有日本航空及全日空，每天各2班來回、載客率都很高，日籍航空更因為有轉機優勢，讓疫後載客率班班都超過9成。

[[日本航空台灣營業處長王富民]]
“疫情前台灣很多國籍航空，直接飛到日本地方機場，但很抱歉因為疫情的時候，地方機場人力不足，所以到目前為止，還沒辦法百分之百恢復直飛，但日航國內線沒有這個問題，轉到各點不會有人力不足的問題”

台灣人有多愛去日本?到今年八月為止，訪日人次已經高達262.3萬人次，反觀來台的日本旅客不到50萬，觀光逆差達5.3倍，而這也反映在機票價格上。年度最大檔期ITF旅展，華航的日本熱門航點 "不減反漲"，飛札幌甚至貴了近2千元，長榮東京、大阪航線大致持平，但從松山出發的價格小漲，星宇航空則是推全航線88折，飛仙台的降幅最高達3700元。

[[機票達人蓋瑞哥]]
“整體台灣飛日本的航線，票價來說的話這次ITF的折扣有限，主要因為日本航線還是太夯了，促銷都是發生在東南亞以及韓國(航線)”

迎接11月旅展商機，航空公司紛紛提前開跑推優惠，民眾購票前多比價，還是有機會省荷包。

更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週日至週五晚上9:30
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