China-Japan tensions had escalated over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s suggestion on Nov 7 that Tokyo could deploy its military forces in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
PLA Daily, the People’s Liberation Army’s official mouthpiece, warned on Sunday that Japan risked turning the entire country into a battlefield if it intervened militarily in the Taiwan Strait.
Li said Shanghai-Tokyo and Shanghai-Osaka area flights were most affected by the cancellations. He estimated that total losses from refunded tickets, 70 per cent of which were round-trip, were in the billions of yuan.
John Grant, a senior analyst with British aviation intelligence firm OAG, said Chinese carriers were probably being hit harder than their Japanese peers.
“The China-Japan market is dominated by Chinese-based airlines, with the top five carriers all being based in China, so the likelihood is that this will hurt those carriers more than the Japanese-based airlines,” Grant said.
In a few weeks, airlines would likely see any “significant change” in capacity, Grant said, though signs of a thaw are already visible.
“With Japan apparently seeking to calm China’s current feelings, then it may be a bit of a short-term issue, but equally disruptive to all concerned,” he said.
Source: CNA
