Unexpected maintenance delayed the departure of a private chartered plane carrying 110 Japanese passengers from Pakistan. Then bad weather hit, forcing the passengers to endure 20 hours of air travel, nearly double the regular duration.

But they consider themselves lucky.

Unlike hundreds of their compatriots who remain stuck overseas, the passengers managed to return to their homeland despite travel restrictions and closed borders as the world tries to contain the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said at a news conference on April 14 that about 2,000 Japanese nationals in around 60 countries have informed the ministry of their desire to return to Japan.

Ministry officials have negotiated with local governments and airline companies overseas in the scramble to bring the Japanese home.

But for 400 Japanese abroad, such plans could be a pie in the sky.

The countries where they reside have either closed their borders or have no direct flights to Japan, Motegi said.

ESCAPE FROM PAKISTAN

After the chartered flight from Pakistan landed at Narita International Airport on the evening of April 13, some of the passengers described the prolonged ordeal.

They said flight attendants wore hazmat suits the entire time, and the cabin was quiet because the travelers were worried that talking could lead to a potential spread of the virus.

At the end of the journey at Narita, east of Tokyo, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

“The moment I saw my mother waiting for me at the airport, I felt the tension leaving my body. I felt so exhausted,” said Eri Takagaki, 45.

Takagaki works as a consultant in development aid and has supported women in rural areas of Pakistan for almost 10 years.

For her, leaving Pakistan was not an easy decision.

Part of her wanted to remain in the South Asian country because she has taken a “hands-on approach” throughout her career.

But she couldn’t erase her concerns about the local medical system.

She said she knew if she missed the chartered flight, she would have no chance to return to Japan in the immediate future.

In mid-March, the Pakistani government suspended regular international flights to prevent passengers from bringing the virus into the country.

Still, the number of COVID-19 patients has surpassed 6,000 in Pakistan, and many medical personnel have been infected.

The spread of the contagion and the tighter restrictions have thrown expat employees of Japanese companies and tourists into a state of crisis.

Japanese groups and embassy staff went to Karachi-based Pakistan International Airlines and secured permission for takeoff and landing of the chartered flight.

For the flight that landed at Narita on April 13, the airfare per person was about $2,900, or 310,000 yen, higher than the fees during normal times.

A PRICE TO PAY

The Foreign Ministry on March 31 urged Japanese nationals living in African countries to return to Japan, citing the rather fragile health care systems on the continent.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Africa at the time was small compared with the soaring figures in the United States and European countries.

But the ministry said, “We cannot eliminate the possibility of the coronavirus spreading rapidly and widely.”

According to the African Union, about 50 nations had closed their borders and suspended international flights as of April 5.

Many Japanese employees and tourists have not made it out of Africa.

The Japanese Embassy in Kenya is currently in the process of operating a chartered flight from Nairobi to Narita on April 18.

Embassy officials are concerned about the limited number of beds in intensive-care units in Kenya. They are also worried that an uprising could occur.

South Africa’s medical system is more adequately equipped to handle an outbreak than those in other African countries.

But that has not stopped an exodus. About 100 Japanese are scheduled to leave South Africa on a chartered flight around April 23 or 24.

The airfare to Narita is expected to be around $5,000, or about 540,000 yen, per passenger.

At least one Japanese, citing the cost, will not be boarding that flight.

“I looked into the pandemic situation both in South Africa and Japan, and I’ve made a decision to stay here for the time being,” the expat said.

The Japanese Embassy in Senegal, whose jurisdiction extends to neighboring countries, has faced a slightly different challenge.

The relatively low number of Japanese nationals living in these countries has made it difficult for embassy officials to arrange chartered flights.

The officials said they have been asking the French and U.S. governments for help.

MULTINATIONAL RESCUE EFFORT

The Foreign Ministry is in charge of such rescue efforts for Japanese nationals overseas.

Between January and February, when the hard-hit Chinese city of Wuhan was under a lockdown, the ministry sent chartered aircraft to China five times, carrying a total of 828 people, including spouses of Japanese nationals, back to Japan.

Even from countries and regions, such as Peru and Uzbekistan, where ministry officials faced extreme difficulties in their repatriation efforts, a total of 6,400 have returned to Japan so far.

Individuals pay for the costs of the trips home, and the fare is split equally among all passengers on the same flight.

With no direct flights linking Japan and Laos, Japanese Embassy officials in the Southeast Asian country asked Lao Airlines for help. On April 6, 113 Japanese returned home on a chartered flight from the Laotian capital of Vientiane.

Rescue efforts and cooperation beyond borders have been rife in the global health crisis.

In Kenya, about 50 Japanese nationals were allowed to board a chartered aircraft arranged by the South Korean government.

The government of Poland chartered an aircraft to bring home Polish nationals from Japan.

The Japanese Embassy in Poland did not waste the opportunity and successfully negotiated with Warsaw to let 147 Japanese nationals in Poland board the plane when it headed to Japan.

“But things get very tough when it involves a country where only a few Japanese live,” a ministry official said.

Chartered flights arranged between the government and a private airline company usually require a certain number of passengers to cover the operation costs.

To meet the required number, Japanese officials have asked expats to travel to a neighboring country by land to meet up with others for a chartered flight. The ministry has also tried to arrange chartered flights with multiple stops in different countries to pick up Japanese expats.

With no end in sight to the pandemic, the ministry official predicts a rise in the number of expats seeking help to return home.

“I certainly expect more expats will come out and say, ‘I want to return to Japan after all,’” the official said. “We will try our best to reduce the number to zero, of course. But realistically speaking, it will be difficult.”

(This article was written by Hideki Kitami in Tokyo, Masatomo Norikyo in Bangkok and Takashi Ishihara in Johannesburg.)