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JAL cancels hundreds of flights to China |
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Update: 11:53, Friday, Sep 21,2012 (GMT+7)
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Japan Airlines (JAL) is
planning to cut its flights to China following the escalation of
tensions between Japan and China over the ownership of the uninhabited
East China Sea islands.
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JAL will reduce its flights to Beijing and Shanghai beginning 10 October to 27 October and a total of 12,000 seat reservations from September to November have been cancelled.
The island row has escalated to travel boycotts and street protests in both the countries. Protesters even vandalised Japanese businesses in China forcing Japanese companies to suspend operations.
JAL shares which relisted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 4.8 percent dropping below their list price. The full-service carrier returned to the stock exchange with an $8.4bn Initial Public Offering (IPO) after it declared bankruptcy in 2010.
However, other Japanese carriers such as All Nippon Airways said they have no immediate plans to cut flights to Chinese cities.
Japan and China have strained relations since the escalation of the row over the group of East China Sea islands known as Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese.
According to a Citigroup estimate quoted by Bloomberg, 40 percent of planned trips to Japan have been cancelled in the past week forcing China Southern Airlines and other carriers to operate fewer flights to Tokyo.
Nick
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