(Yicai) Nov. 25 -- Chinese carriers have canceled all flights on 12 routes from China to Japan amid heightened geopolitical tensions between the two countries, while hundreds of thousands of travelers from the Chinese mainland have gotten their tickets refunded.

Xiamen Airlines has canceled all flights from Hangzhou to Chubu Centrair International Airport, while Hainan Airlines has suspended services from Xi'an to New Chitose Airport. In addition, Air China has reduced weekly flights on its Shanghai-Osaka route to 16 from 21, while China Eastern Airlines cut six flights from its original 14 on its Beijing-Osaka route.

The 12 routes where all flights were canceled amid a recent sharp drop in passenger numbers already ran in relatively low frequencies, according to the latest monitoring data by Flight Steward.

There were originally many flights from Chinese cities to the Kansai International Airport, but most passengers go to Osaka for leisure, so the flight cancellation rate is relatively higher, an industry insider told Yicai. In contrast, many travel to Tokyo for business, making them less likely to change their original plans, the person pointed out.

For example, the cancellation rate of direct flights from the Tianjin Binhai International Airport reached 65 percent, while that from Nanjing Lukou International Airport topped 59 percent, data from TravelSky shows.

The number of bookings for flights run by Chinese mainland carriers to Japan dropped by 543,000 on Nov. 18 compared with Nov. 15, meaning that more than half a million tickets were canceled between Nov. 15 and 17, the three days after domestic carriers announced free refund and rescheduling options, aviation expert Li Hanming previously told Yicai.

More than a dozen Chinese airlines, including the three biggest state-owned airlines -- China Eastern, China Southern Airlines, and Air China -- offered refund and rescheduling options free of charge to passengers who had booked flights to Japan between Nov. 15 and Dec. 31 after China advised its citizens to avoid traveling there amid increasing political tensions between the two nations.

Japanese hotel operators are also facing increasing pressure due to the drop in Chinese visitors, a Chinese-speaking tour guide in the Shikoku region told Yicai. "This is supposed to be the busiest time of the year, but both Chinese tour groups I was scheduled to receive next month canceled, and so the originally peak tourist season is now filled with uncertainty," she noted.

"We have already felt a decrease in demand for local reception services from Chinese mainland tour groups," the tour guide said. "Since many of the passengers who canceled their flights to Japan at short notice are independent travelers, I believe the number of hotel booking cancellations is even higher.

"I dare not imagine what will happen if this situation lasts for a year, as it feels like we are going back to the sluggish days during the pandemic," she noted.

South Korea has become the new top offshore travel spot for Chinese mainland tourists, according to data from Chinese travel platform Qunar. Seoul ranks first by outbound flight searchers, while other popular destinations include Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Sydney, and Bali.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev