Year-end and New Year holidaymakers' return peaks at Narita Airport near Tokyo

Holidaymakers and others who have spent the year-end and New Year period outside Japan are flying back in droves to a major airport near Tokyo. It was the first such extended holiday period since Japan drastically eased its border controls against the coronavirus.

The operator of Narita Airport says the rush back home is peaking on Wednesday, with more than 25,000 passengers expected to arrive on the day alone.

The number of airport users during the two weeks between December 23 and January 5 is predicted to top 618,000.

That will be more than 12 times the figure from the same period a year earlier. But it will still be less than half the level from the same period three years earlier, which was right before the coronavirus pandemic.

A woman who visited Hawaii with her family said she was happy to be able to breathe in the fresh air there. But she said she was relieved to come back as food and drink in the US state were two to three times more expensive than in Japan.

Source: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230104_37/