National Dec. 28, 2013 - 03:40PM JST
TOKYO —
The New Year’s holiday exodus from Tokyo and other urban areas peaked Saturday, with vacationers crowding train stations, airports and expressways.
Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways said all flights from Tokyo’s Haneda airport were full in the afternoon, though 25 flights to Sapporo and the Chubu region were canceled due to heavy snow in those regions.
Narita airport officials said they expect 50,000 people to depart Saturday, and 650,000 to leave Japan during the nine-day holiday period through Jan 5, an increase of 40,000 over last New Year, Fuji TV reported. The increase in budget carriers flying in and out of Japan has made Asian destinations especially attractive, but the U.S. and Europe are also popular this year, travel agents say.
Meanwhile, JR East, JR West and JR Tokai all reported 100% load factors and said trains are likely to be full until Dec 31. Capacity was 150% on some Tokaido line trains.
Traffic was moving slowly on outbound expressways from Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. The Japan Road Traffic Information Center reported long lines of up to 20 kilometers on the Tomei Expressway in the early afternoon in Aichi Prefecture.
This year, many people are turning their holiday into an extended nine-day break by taking Monday Dec 30 and Tuesday Dec 31 off.
Next week, Jan 1-3 are national holidays, with most employees returning to work on Monday Jan 6.
The return rush is expected to peak Jan 3 and Jan 4.
TOKYO —
The New Year’s holiday exodus from Tokyo and other urban areas peaked Saturday, with vacationers crowding train stations, airports and expressways.
Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways said all flights from Tokyo’s Haneda airport were full in the afternoon, though 25 flights to Sapporo and the Chubu region were canceled due to heavy snow in those regions.
Narita airport officials said they expect 50,000 people to depart Saturday, and 650,000 to leave Japan during the nine-day holiday period through Jan 5, an increase of 40,000 over last New Year, Fuji TV reported. The increase in budget carriers flying in and out of Japan has made Asian destinations especially attractive, but the U.S. and Europe are also popular this year, travel agents say.
Meanwhile, JR East, JR West and JR Tokai all reported 100% load factors and said trains are likely to be full until Dec 31. Capacity was 150% on some Tokaido line trains.
Traffic was moving slowly on outbound expressways from Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. The Japan Road Traffic Information Center reported long lines of up to 20 kilometers on the Tomei Expressway in the early afternoon in Aichi Prefecture.
This year, many people are turning their holiday into an extended nine-day break by taking Monday Dec 30 and Tuesday Dec 31 off.
Next week, Jan 1-3 are national holidays, with most employees returning to work on Monday Jan 6.
The return rush is expected to peak Jan 3 and Jan 4.