Narita Airport counts over 20 million non-Japanese passengers on international flights in 2024
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The increase in non-Japanese passengers aboard international flights is believed to be due to the growing demand from overseas visitors to Japan.
PHOTO: AFP
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NARITA – The total number of non-Japanese passengers aboard international flights arriving at and departing from Narita Airport near Tokyo exceeded 20 million in 2024 for the first time since its opening in 1978, according to Narita International Airport Corp (NAA).
The increase is believed to be due to the growing demand from overseas visitors to Japan
The total number of passengers on domestic and international flights increased 22 per cent from 2023 to 39,807,651, recovering to 90 per cent of 44,344,739 – the record high marked in 2019, according to airport traffic statistics released on Jan 30 by NAA, which operates the airport in Narita, Chiba prefecture.
The number of passengers on international flights totalled 32,205,839 in 2024, up 29 per cent from the previous year and 88 per cent of the number in 2019. Non-Japanese passengers totalled 21,793,034, up 36 per cent from the previous year and up 20 per cent from 2019.
Japanese passengers on international flights totalled 7,949,711, up 31 per cent from the previous year, but only 54 per cent of the 2019 figure. The number of Japanese going abroad has remained stagnant.
While overseas travel demand has remained sluggish, domestic passenger volume was 7,601,812, marking the third-highest figure on record.
“With the yen weakening to the level of 150 yen (S$1.30) to the dollar, it is worthwhile for overseas travellers to come to Japan, but for Japanese people, it has become more difficult to travel abroad,” said NAA president Akihiko Tamura.
The number of aircraft arriving at and departing from the airport increased 15 per cent in 2024 from the previous year to 242,071, or 92 per cent of the 2019 volume.
Of these, international flights recovered to 91 per cent of the 2019 volume to 190,978, up 20 per cent from the previous year, while passenger flights were up 26 per cent from the previous year. Cargo flights were down 4 per cent from the previous year, but still 24 per cent higher than in 2019.
International cargo volume was up 4 per cent from the previous year to 1,945,795 tonnes, exceeding the previous year’s amount for the first time in three years.
THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
