After 4 years and 4 months, the international route between Dalian and Toyama has finally resumed.
According to Japan's Toyama TV, on June 26, China Southern Airlines' regular international flights between Dalian and Toyama resumed after more than four years.
The route has been suspended since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, and after the outbreak ended, the local government of Toyama Prefecture has expressed a desire to resume flights to promote tourism in both places.
On May 17, the governor of Toyama Prefecture visited Dalian and expressed his desire to resume the route. Later, at the request of Toyama Prefecture, China Southern Airlines reopened the route after more than four years.
On June 26, the first flight after the resumption took off from Dalian to Toyama Airport, with a total of 104 passengers on board and a load factor of 65.4%.
When the plane arrived at Toyama Airport, two fire trucks sprayed water to form a huge arch, and the plane drove through the middle in a "water gate" ceremony. This symbolizes auspiciousness and blessings, and also has the implication of catching the wind and washing the dust.
Many local people came to Toyama Airport to watch the plane "pass through the water gate", and a reporter from Toyama local TV station also reported on the scene.
Outside the arrival exit of the airport, staff also put up banners in Chinese and Japanese to welcome passengers from China.
The airport staff also presented a souvenir to each passenger who had just stepped off the plane.
A passenger who arrived in Toyama from Dalian said; "It's so convenient since it opened, but this time I came to Toyama with my family for sightseeing, and I wanted to go to the hot springs and eat local food."
Some travelers who returned to Japan from Dalian said, "It will be easier to travel back and forth between the two places in the future." ”
According to the person in charge of Toyama Airport, "The resumption of regular international flights between Toyama and Dalian will rebuild a bridge of communication between the two places." With the end of the epidemic, international flights will be gradually resumed in the future. ”
According to reports, the reopened route between Dalian and Toyama will be operated on the following flight times:
Departs Toyama at 4:00 p.m. local time and arrives in Dalian at 5:40 p.m. local time
Departs Dalian at 11:40 a.m. local time and arrives at Toyama at 3:00 p.m. local time
As of October 26, there are 36 round-trips every Wednesday and Saturday.