TOKYO: Japan lodged a protest with China after one of its naval survey vessels entered Japanese waters on Saturday (Aug 31), the second incursion into its territory by the Chinese military in less than a week. An uptick in Chinese military activity near Japan and around Taiwan in recent years hasContinue Reading
However, both inbound and outbound travel have yet to fully return to pre-pandemic levels, lagging behind at around 85 per cent compared with traffic before global borders were shut about four years ago.
Despite sluggish international air travel numbers, officials said China could expect to see record-high air passenger trips this year, reaching 700 million on the back of strong domestic demand.
Airports are also bustling with activities as business and travellers return.
At Beijing’s Daxing International Airport, a new maintenance facility for business jets has just opened its doors. It includes a 5,000 sqm air-conditioned and heated hangar that can accommodate as many as eight business jets at any one time.
The airport, one of the newest international gateways to China, was built with the aim to become one of the world’s busiest.
But the COVID-19 pandemic threw a spanner in the works. Just months after starting operations in 2019, its service was suspended when all its flights were rerouted to Beijing Capital International Airport due to pandemic restrictions. It resumed operations in January last year.
Paul Desgrosseilliers, general manager of aviation service ExecuJet Haite, said the opening of the maintenance facility signifies business and general aviation has finally taken off at Daxing.
“It’s one of the only international airports that has unique dedicated space for business jets. So there’s huge growth potential in terms of the development here,” he added.
It is not just foreign arrivals that are slow to return to China. Chinese travellers are also making fewer trips overseas.
Shukor Yusof, founder of Endau Analytics, said the appetite for international travel has not recovered due to spending power and rivalry with the United States.
“The Chinese have become more aware about spending money overseas. The yuan has weakened compared to pre-pandemic levels,” he said.
“There is also a decline of at least 50 per cent of flights coming in from North America. That’s primarily because of geopolitics, and I suspect that will be the case until there is more clarity, until the US presidential elections in November.”
With ongoing tensions in the Middle East and Europe, as well as the recent surge in mpox cases, the global aviation industry is bracing itself for turbulence.
Still, analysts said China may be better placed to weather the currents with its domestic tourism.
“The Chinese have the advantage of having a large hinterland. They don’t really need the outside world to sustain the aviation business for the airlines,” said Yusof.
Tokyo: A widely detested Japanese government proposal to encourage Tokyo women to marry men in rural areas by offering cash and train tickets to matchmaking events has been abandoned, according to officials on Friday ( Aug 30 ). According to local media reports, bureaucrats had envisioned paying up to 600,Continue Reading
It’s the perpetual problem of every backpacker: What do you do when there’s a crying baby on your trip?  ,
The position became intimate for the two female customers on a domestic flight in China.  ,
The women were seen carrying a wailing child into the aeroplane bath and scolding the frightened baby in a recently removed movie that has sparked outrage and heated discussion on Chinese social media.
In the one-minute picture, seen by CNA, the trio, dressed in black, were overheard severely telling the baby to stop crying. ” Shut your mouth! Do n’t cry. We’ll let you out when you stop crying”, one of the people said, while the other continued shooting.  ,
Juneyao Airlines confirmed the incident on its established Weibo section on August 24 when it took off from Guiyang, China’s southwest city, for a morning domestic flight to Shanghai.  ,
According to the airline’s speech, the young child had been throwing a tantrum, prompting the two sexual people to take matters into their own fingertips. According to the airport, they took her away from her mother and took her into the restroom.  ,
The ladies had acceptance from the girl’s mother, the flight said. ” Her mother had been waiting outside the potty” the entire time, it added.
The initial video, which has since been deleted from Douyin, Tiktok’s girl software, was first uploaded by one of the people who shared their version of the questionable event.  ,
The little girl was” spoiled by her grandmother” and had been” crying very loudly and disturbing other passengers”, the woman wrote. ” So ( we ) took her from her grandmother and brought her into the toilet”, she said. ” We did n’t allow her grandmother to follow, but I recorded the whole thing while the aunty and I and disciplined her” . ,
The mother of the child has even broken her silence and claimed to be aware of the event. In the speech released by Juneyao Airlines, the lady, who was not named, said she had been aware of the incident and expressed her “understanding” towards the people for their “assistance and behavior” during the trip.  ,
INCONVENIENT Although the storms caused no significant damage to the vacation resort of Beppu in Kyushu, leaving tourists stranded and weary, with the onsen hot springs, a chimpanzee area, and even 24-hour comfort stores shut down. ” This is my first time ( here ). Nobuhiko Takagishi, a gloomy visitorContinue Reading
OITA, Japan: As its reported death toll climbed to five, Typhoon Shanshan slowly barreled up the Japanese archipelago on Friday ( Aug 30 ), dumping torrential rains and wreak havoc on transportation. The tornado, one of the strongest to strike Japan in years, had weakened by early dawn, though windsContinue Reading
In a case that has drawn international attention as a result of a security crackdown in the China-ruled city, a Hong Kong court on Thursday ( Aug 29 ) found two editors of the now-defunct Stand News media outlet guilty of conspiring to publish seditious articles. Chung Pui-kuen and PatrickContinue Reading
Japan has been hit by one of its strongest typhoons in decades, dumping torrential rain across the country’s southern regions , on Thursday ( Aug 29 ). On Thursday night, Typhoon Shanshan made landfall on Kyushu’s southeastern peninsula. Numerous people have been given the order to leave. Following us on TwitterContinue Reading
In Seoul, two people were hurt when a car they were driving in was sucked into by a sinkhole that appeared on Thursday ( August 29 ). According to local media accounts, a hole emerged in the middle of a street in Seodaemun area, northern Seoul.  , The vehicle, whichContinue Reading
Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of South Korea, stated on Thursday ( Aug 29 ) that the nation’s national pension fund needs to be reformated to make it more equitable among generations and provide income security for an aging population. According to Yoon, there had been a decline in trustContinue Reading