Air Travel Bookings for Japan's "Golden Week" Holiday Robust

Tokyo, April 30 (Jiji Press)--Travel bookings for Japan's Golden Week holiday period are still strong, defying concerns over high prices and the Middle East situation.

But uncertainty surrounds the industry over travel demand in summer and later as fuel surcharges added to international fares are set to jump due to higher air fuel prices.

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways reported year-on-year growth in reservations for both domestic and international flights for the eight-day period ending on Wednesday.

At the JAL group, bookings for international flights climbed 3.3 pct from the same period last year to total 169,302, led by growth in demand for travel to North America and the Pacific islands of Hawaii and Guam.

ANA said its international flight bookings jumped 18.4 pct to 210,871. Especially popular are destinations in other Asian countries and the Oceanian region.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]