Korean Air cutting Japan flights amid travel boycott
National carrier Korean Air is cutting flights to Japan as the diplomatic and economic row between the two nations continues to bite.
Japan started restricting exports of certain high-tech materials to South Korea, causing panic in the South Korean tech hardware sector.
This came as a retaliatory measure after a South Korea court ruling over wartime forced labour.
There has been a wide ranging boycott of Japanese products and services in Korea, with a big dip in outbound travel.
It has forced Korean Air to suspend its Busan-Sapporo route from September 3, citing weak demand.
The travel boycott is being felt across the industry.
"If the anti-Japan sentiment continues and affects our reservation rates, then we cannot rule out the possibility of rearranging our Japan routes," said a spokesman at Jin Air, a low cost affiliate of Korean Air.
Other South Korean LCCs T’way Air and Easter Jet will also temporarily suspend some routes to Japan.
Korea is Japan’s second largest source market after China, although there had been a slight decline even before the diplomatic tension.
The market accounted for nearly a quarter of all tourist arrivals to Japan last year.
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