JAPAN. Major gateways Kansai International and Narita Airport have continued to rebound from the SARS-hit 2003 with double-digit passenger increases on their international routes in April. But in year-to-date terms the outbound market numbers remain soft.
International passengers at Narita rose +50.8% year-on-year to about 2.3 million, and Japanese travellers grew +56.6% to about 1.3 million, according to the Narita Airport Authority.
From January to April this year, about 9.3 million international passengers used Narita Airport, +10.8% more than the same period last year. The corresponding count for Japanese heading overseas reached 5.6 million, an increase of +8.4%. The latter figure underlines the softness of the outbound market’s recovery as March and April 2003 were particularly affected by the Iraq war and the growing SARS crisis.
At Kansai Airport, passengers on international flights surged 62.3%, while the total number of passengers using the airport grew +30.4% in April year-on-year.
From January to April this year, some 3.3 million international passengers used Kansai Airport, a +10.3% increase over the same period last year. But tellingly the total number of passengers for the same period slipped -1.9% to about 4.7 million.
MORE STORIES ON TRAFFIC AT JAPANESE AIRPORTS
Narita posts rise in international traffic though Kansai slips – 05/04/04
Narita Airport to post record high this summer – 29 March 2004
Kansai International airport passenger numbers hit record low – 15 January 2004
