TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A growing number of flight cancellations by Chinese airlines is disrupting carriers and several regional airports in Japan, as political tensions between Tokyo and Beijing over Taiwan spill over into the aviation sector.

Chinese airlines have reduced services to Japan under state directives and are offering full refunds without fees. The cuts affect major hubs such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, but they are particularly significant for regional airports that depend on direct links with Chinese cities for tourism and local business, Nikkei Asia reported Friday.

Ibaraki Airport, about 80 kilometers northeast of central Tokyo, lost its last remaining route to China on Thursday. A scheduled Spring Airlines flight from Shanghai Pudong did not arrive, leading to the cancellation of the same-day return flight.

Spring told local authorities that demand had weakened. Airport staff, however, said flights typically saw solid passenger numbers on the three days each week they operated.

The reductions follow comments by Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae, who said earlier this month that a Chinese move to seize Taiwan could create a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. China criticized the remarks and has since taken steps that include discouraging travel to Japan.

This week, the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo urged Chinese to exercise caution, claiming that public order in Japan was deteriorating and that anti-Chinese discrimination was increasing. Beijing has also extended its directive for Chinese airlines to scale back flights to Japan through March next year.

Other regional airports are now seeing service cuts as well.

Spring will reduce its Shanghai–Saga flights from four per week to two starting in December, only months after increasing frequencies to meet higher demand. It will also reduce Takamatsu–Shanghai flights from three per week to two beginning Dec. 4.

For Chinese airlines, the pullback comes during a financially sensitive period.

Parash Jain, global head of transport and logistics research at Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp., said the sudden reductions are an “immediate headwind” that may affect fourth-quarter earnings. If cancellations continue through March, airlines could also miss revenue from the typically strong Lunar New Year travel season.

China–Japan routes have been among the most profitable international markets for Chinese carriers since the pandemic a few years ago. Shifting aircraft back to domestic service could increase competition on those routes.

State carriers China Southern, China Eastern, and Air China had been moving closer to their first annual profits since 2019, supported by stronger third-quarter results. The three airlines account for more than half of China–Japan seat capacity, with China Eastern holding over 23%, according to Flight Master data cited by HSBC.

Jain now expects the state-owned carriers to post combined net losses of about NT$26.6 billion (US$850 million) in the fourth quarter, offsetting most of their profit from the first nine months of the year. Private carriers such as Spring and Juneyao may be better positioned but remain exposed because Japan routes make up a sizable part of their networks.