More foreign travelers are passing through Narita Airport near Tokyo, a major gateway to Japan. Their numbers reached about 1.25 million for the first time last year.
The airport’s operator says that’s up 23 percent from the previous year and a record high for the second consecutive year.
The operator attributes the growth to the weaker yen and the increase in overseas flights, mostly within Asia.
Meanwhile, the number of Japanese traveling overseas was down 8 percent from the previous year to about 13 million. That’s the lowest figure since 1991.
For the first time last year, more than 40 percent of international travelers were foreigners. That nearly matched the 43 percent who were Japanese. About 16 percent were transit passengers whose nationality was not registered.
The airport operator says the increase in foreign users is good news, but stemming the decline of Japanese users is a challenge. It says it plans to open more routes to give travelers a wider range of options.
The airport’s operator says roughly 12.5 million foreigners used international flights there in 2015.
Source and image: NHK
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