As Japan is formed of numerous islands stretching over thousands of kilometers from the north-east to the south-west, aviation is the country's primary mode of transport for long domestic trips and international travel.
have been recorded annually before the COVID-19 pandemic heavily disrupted the industry. Domestic trips still account for the majority of travel volume and revenue earned by Japan's aviation companies. However, inbound travel has been increasing significantly in the years before the pandemic, providing a promising income source, especially to the leading industry players.
What are Japan’s important airports?
With more than 100 airports, including 28 major airports, and 54 regional airports, Japan has a strong aviation infrastructure. The control of the airports lies in the hands of either national or regional authorities, except for four company-administered international airports. The fifth international airport is Tokyo International Airport, known as Haneda International. From 1978 until the inauguration of Terminal 3 in 2010, Haneda handled domestic flights only, whereas Narita International, the other major airport in the Greater Tokyo Area, handled primarily international flights.
Haneda and Narita are Japan’s main hubs: they have the highest traffic among domestic airports. The most-flown routes start from Haneda, while most international flights arrive at Narita.
The market leaders of Japanese aviation: ANA and JAL
In the past, each flight route corresponded with a singular operation-permitting license granted by the authorities. Most of those licenses were in the hands of either Japan Airlines (JAL), All Nippon Airways (ANA), or Japan Air System (JAS).
Nowadays, market entry relies on permission for operations, and passenger fares only need to be notified to the authorities in advance. The deregulation allowed new carriers to enter the market, but it also resulted in numerous mergers and acquisitions, like that of JAL and JAS.
Despite numerous
low-cost carriers (LCC) and
small carriers appearing in the domestic market, many are ANA and JAL subsidiaries or have the two as major shareholders. Following suit with the industry trend, the privatization of aviation services has
extended to airports and their operations. Since the implementation of reforms, the passenger load factor has improved, and traffic has increased — until the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Impact of COVID-19 on Japanese aviation
Travel restrictions resulting from the pandemic have drastically impacted the revenues of airlines and airports. In particular, they have affected international operations, as exemplified by
JAL’s passenger revenues, but domestic transportation has suffered as well because domestic travel was also strongly discouraged during states of emergency. To limit further economic repercussions, the Japanese Government has put together several stimulus packages totaling trillions of Japanese yen. Subsidies, tax reductions, and zero-interest loans have further helped Japanese air carriers and airport companies survive the pandemic. The industry recovered partially in 2022 and was on the way to full recovery in 2023, as domestic travel and inbound travel were possible again.
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