An aircraft from China Eastern Airlines at Fukuoka Airport in Japan on December 14, 2025 Photo: VCG

The aviation market between the Chinese mainland and Japan shows no sign of recovery, with more than 2,100 flights from the mainland to Japan already canceled for January, and 46 routes set to have "zero flights" in the next two weeks, data from an industry information platform showed on Monday.

According to data provided by Flight Master, 2,195 flights between the mainland and Japan have been canceled for January, representing an overall cancellation rate of 40.4 percent.

Among these, 46 routes have canceled all scheduled flights over the next two weeks.

The canceled routes include Shenyang to Osaka, Chengdu to Osaka, and Nanjing to Fukuoka, according to Flight Master.

The 46 routes cover mainland cities including Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu and Chongqing, as well as airports in Japan such as Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Okinawa, and Tokyo.

Statistics from industry information provider Umetrip showed that from December 1 to 15, the number of outbound traveler trips from the mainland exceeded 1.81 million, up about 8 percent year-on-year. 

Looking at specific destinations, about 190,000 passenger trips from the mainland were made to Thailand, while more than 183,000 passenger trips to South Korea, up about 30 percent year-on-year. Thailand and South Korea have surpassed Japan to become the two most popular countries for outbound travel, Umetrip said in a note sent to the Global Times on Friday. 

On November 16, China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism advised Chinese citizens to avoid traveling to Japan, citing security concerns. In a statement published on its official website, the ministry cited the travel advisory issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which referred to a deteriorating security environment for Chinese citizens in Japan as well as recent provocative remarks made by the Japanese leader regarding China's Taiwan, according to the Xinhua News Agency.  

Global Times