JAPAN. Passenger arrivals and departures at Kansai airport in Osaka hit a record low in 2003, falling below a total 15 million for the first time, according to December data made available this week.
The fall came amid worries over the SARS epidemic that mainly hit Asian nations, the Iraq war, Japan’s delayed economic recovery, and lingering after-effects of the September 11 terror attacks on the US.
According to a Kansai International Airport Company official, preliminary data for December 2003 shows total arrivals and departures on domestic and international flights was about the same as the 1.24 million recorded in November.
Combined with already reported January-November figures, the total for 2003 comes to slightly above 14 million.
Arrivals and departures totalled 12.86 million from January to November, according to reports by the airport operator.
Each month showed declines compared with the same month in 2002. In April, just after the war on Iraq began, the number of passengers dropped
-64.8%, followed by a -56.8% fall in May, when a Taiwanese doctor with the SARS virus entered Japan from the airport, and -62.2% decrease in June.
The airport opened in September 1994. The number of passengers using the facility had increased steadily every year since 1995, when it accommodated 16.51 million arrivals and departures. But demand for overseas travel shrank rapidly in Japan post-September 11.
The airport operator said it hopes the introductions of more flights to China – a growing tourist destination for Japanese – and of larger aircraft on existing routes will help to stimulate demand for air travel.
