In the recent unfolding of events, Japan has hurriedly taken the decision to drop the ban on flight booking for international passengers. The decision has been taken by the country just a day after it made the announcement to ban any new bookings made by passengers who wanted to fly to Japan. The restriction was imposed due to rising concerns about the new Omicron variant; however, the decision witnessed a huge backlash from the passengers and compelled the government to revoke the decision.
The Current Scenario
A report from Bloomberg suggests that Japan has decided not to go ahead with its plan of preventing passengers from making any new bookings to travel to the country. The country’s transport ministry had announced this regulation yesterday and faced intense criticism and was forced to take back this decision so as to focus on other important potential risks. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a statement that he has instructed the Travel Ministry to prioritize the needs of Japanese citizens who want to get back home.
Even though Japan is taking back the decision it took yesterday, it will still strictly follow the pre-existing guidelines and won’t allow for more than 3500 incoming passengers in a day. Japanese citizens and residents will still be able to make bookings to get to the country on any day where the limit hasn’t been reached. This maximum limit on incoming passengers was brought in the light of the emerging Omicron variant last week.
As reported yesterday, Japan has already witnessed two cases of the Omicron variant. The first case was reported on Tuesday where a man who had arrived in the country from Namibia tested positive. The second case was reported today as a man who had arrived in the county in November from Peru has tested positive.
The world was witnessing ease in travel restrictions and the airline industry was looking to be back on its revival path all over the globe. However, with the emergence of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, things have taken a turn as governments across the globe are again looking to tighten up their travel regulations to slow the spread of highly infectious Omicron variants.
