Photo/Illutration An unstaffed international flight counter, left background, at Miyazaki Airport on Aug. 24 (Takeshi Nakashima)

MIYAZAKI--Have passport, will travel, as the saying goes.

With that in mind, the Miyazaki prefectural government announced it will heavily discount the cost of obtaining a passport to encourage residents to take trips to Asian destinations from Miyazaki Airport.

Officials said ownership of valid passports had dropped significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions that resulted, and they wanted to change that.

The prefectural government will bear the lion’s share of the cost of each new passport in the hope the saving will spur people to travel abroad from Miyazaki Airport.

The system kicked off Sept. 27 for the regular route between Miyazaki and Seoul in South Korea.

Exclusively targeting children younger than 18 as well as students under the age of 26, the prefecture already has a subsidy framework in place for those who obtain passports.

Young residents applying for five-year passports have all expenses covered by the prefectural government. Those needing 10-year passports receive a discount of 11,000 yen from the total payment of 16,000 yen ($108).

The enhanced subsidy program will be available to any resident, no matter their age, if they can show they have obtained a new passport since January. But there is a small catch.

After obtaining a new passport, the person will be obliged to book an international flight from Miyazaki Airport.

Passengers who purchase tour packages through travel agencies will pay only discounted sums. Those who purchase flight tickets independently must apply for the campaign so they can receive subsidies that will be reimbursed after they return home.

Before the global health scare, Miyazaki Airport hosted regular flights to Seoul and Taipei operated by Asiana Airlines and China Airlines, respectively.

However, flights were suspended in March 2020 after the onset of the pandemic.

The ratio of prefectural residents with valid passports dropped from 12.4 percent in late 2019 to 8.5 percent in late 2022, in part because there was no urgency to renew the documents while travel curbs were in place.

The subsidy framework aims to reset the percentage to a level comparable to that before the pandemic. Around 5,500 passengers are expected to rely on the system by the end of the fiscal year.

There are growing expectations in the prefecture that a resumption of the Miyazaki-Seoul route will stimulate the local economy via inbound flights of tourists. However, securing passengers who depart from Miyazaki Airport is still indispensable for maintaining international flights.

“Fewer passport holders would lead to a lowered rate of use of regular international flights,” said an official of the prefectural government’s general transportation department. “We are hoping that people will take advantage of our subsidies to cover their trip costs and start using the regular routes.”

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