GoTo札幌・大阪除外→福島空港「狙い撃ちみたい…」

The exclution of Osaka and Sapporo from Go-To Travel

The government will use "Go-To Travel" to exclude trips to Sapporo and Osaka, where the infection of the new coronavirus is widespread. Fukushima Airport (Sukagawa City, Fukushima Prefecture, Tamakawa Village) is far away to worry about the impact. There are only two regular flights connecting the suburbs of both cities, and recently the number of users has recovered, so I am worried about the future.

"Donpisha de Osaka and Sapporo. I want to shoot ...". Makoto Saito, chief of the Prefectural Airport Exchange Division, was surprised to learn about the government's policy. This is because Fukushima Airport currently has only regular flights between New Chitose Airport (Hokkaido) and Osaka (Itami) Airport.

Due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, the total number of passengers at Fukushima Airport this year was about 37,000 (end of October), a decrease of 77.9% from the same period of the previous year. For about two months after mid-May, there was only one round trip to Osaka, and the number of passengers in May was 1,389, the lowest since the port opened in 1993.

However, the number of users gradually recovered due to the effect of "Go-To Travel" that started in July and the calmness of the spread of infection, and in October it exceeded 10,000 for the first time in eight months. Saito said, "It was time for the customer to return. I have to put up with it until the infection subsides."

The prefecture will offer a supplementary budget of about 170 million yen in total, such as discounting 5,000 yen one way per user of Osaka / Sapporo flights from February to March next year to support airlines that will continue to suffer on the 17th. Just announced. "Since it was a previous story, I am not thinking about changing the plan right now," said Saito.

Source: https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASNCS6QG2NCSUGTB015.html