Photo/Illutration Air China aircraft are lined up at Beijing Capital International Airport in September 2024. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

SHENYANG, China--Air China Ltd., a major state-owned carrier, will reduce flights to Japan from the end of November through March next year, including the Lunar New Year holiday period, multiple sources said.

The company explained that the reduction was due to “aircraft availability.”

However, an Air China source said, “In reality, we considered the current (political) situation.”

The airline’s move came after the Chinese government called on its citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan.

Beijing has been putting pressure on Tokyo over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks in the Diet that Japan could respond to a Taiwan contingency caused by Chinese military action.

Posts have been flooding Chinese social media by people who have booked flights to Japan. Many of them said they have already received cancellation notices.

One service mentioned heavily was Flight CA163, which currently operates daily from Shanghai to Osaka.

Air China’s customer service center confirmed that the flight will be available only on Fridays and Saturdays from the end of this month until March 28.

Another company source involved with routes to Japan said about 10 percent of the flights will be cut over that period.

The source noted that a large number of reservations have been canceled.

“As a business, we need to adjust flights that don’t generate profit,” the source said.

In another move, China Sichuan Airlines has canceled its plan to resume flights between Chengdu and Sapporo from January to March next year, according to local media.

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