TOKYO – Japan Airlines (JAL) has cancelled a 6,600 yen (S$66) promotion for one-way domestic flights on Thursday after overwhelming demand crashed the carrier’s website.

The airline had halted sales of the steeply discounted tickets while “working to restore the connection”, before canning the campaign and announcing it was unlikely to hold a similar sale in the foreseeable future.

“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused,” the Tokyo-based company said.

JAL’s website was hit at around midnight on Wednesday, when the airline began its JAL Smiles campaign offering domestic one-way tickets at a flat rate of 6,600 yen for adults and 4,950 yen for children, from April to June. The offer had been set to run till next Tuesday.

Users faced poor Internet connectivity, making it difficult for customers to purchase or reserve normal tickets. But they could still reserve flights that were not part of the campaign via app and by phone.

JAL had asked customers to refrain from accessing the website until the problem was resolved.

Those who managed to purchase tickets will still be able to use them, JAL said. It will cancel a similar promotion for flights in June, which was scheduled to launch on Sunday.

Demand for travel within the island nation is picking up, with the government planning to downgrade the coronavirus to the same category as seasonal influenza in May.

ANA and Hokkaido-based carrier Airdo have also unveiled plans to sell discounted flights over the next few months. BLOOMBERG