China News Service, Beijing (Reporter Liu Wenwen) According to the "Consular Express" public account on the 26th, as the Lunar New Year is approaching, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy and Consulates in Japan have reminded Chinese citizens to avoid traveling to Japan in the near future. On the same day, a number of Chinese airlines once again issued notices on the special handling of tickets for Japan-related routes. The free refund and exchange policy for tickets that meet applicable conditions was extended to October 24 this year.
Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Shandong Airlines and other airlines announced that according to the travel reminder issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in order to help passengers better arrange their travel plans, for tickets purchased before 12:00 on January 26th and with travel dates of March 29th to October 24th, refunds and changes can be made free of charge within the validity period of the tickets. It is reported that the above-mentioned airlines have repeatedly issued special disposal plans for passenger tickets involving inbound and outbound flights on Japanese routes. The previous free refund and change policy will be implemented until March 28.
Flight Manager data shows that as of January 26, 49 China-Japan routes have canceled all flights in February 2026, a further increase from January. In January 2026, the cancellation rate of flights from China to Japan reached 47.2%, an increase of 7.8 percentage points from December 2025. (End)
