[Update, December 3] According to The Japan Times, the government has retracted the request for airlines to stop taking reservations for inbound flights in December. The report quotes an official saying that there is no distinction between foreign residents seeking re-entry into Japan and Japanese citizens; both are given equal consideration when flying into Japan. However, Japan is keeping its limit of 3,500 inbound travellers per day.
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[Update, December 2] The government is now reconsidering its earlier request for airlines to halt new flight reservations. On the morning of December 2, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told the transport ministry to ‘give thorough considerations for Japanese nationals wishing to return’. Kyodo News reports that Japanese airlines ANA and JAL have now resumed accepting new bookings for flights bound for Japan. It is currently unclear as to how this change will affect Japan’s foreign residents.
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[December 1] In recent days, Japan has taken a series of precautionary measures to prevent the Omicron variant from spreading into its borders. The country is not allowing any new foreign arrivals, including business travellers, while non-citizens including foreign residents will be barred from re-entering Japan if they arrive from one of ten African countries.
NHK has just reported that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has requested that airlines stop taking new reservations for inbound flights into Japan throughout the month of December. The report mentioned that Japan Airlines and ANA are abiding by the request.
According to The Japan Times, in principle, existing confirmed reservations will not be cancelled, but travellers will not be able to make new bookings to fly into Japan this month.
This article was originally published on December 1 and updated on December 3.
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