The tourism and aviation industries, which are expected to see a further slump in demand, have taken more steps to temporarily close offices and reduce flights following the declaration of a state of emergency due to a surge in infections with the new coronavirus.
On Wednesday, major travel agency H.I.S. Co. started to temporarily close all its 263 sales offices nationwide in principle until May 6, when the state of emergency is set to end. The company has put about 6,000 employees on special leave, almost its entire workforce except for those working at call centers and those issuing plane tickets. It has also stopped handling overseas travel with departure dates through May 31.
In-store sales account for about half of H.I.S.'s total. "As reservations for travel take one to two hours in many cases, mainly involving face-to-face customer services, we want to help prevent infections by closing these offices," a public relations official for the company said.
JTB Corp. also has closed all its 232 outlets in the seven prefectures subject to the declaration of the state of emergency through May 6, in principle. The company has switched to serving customers by telephone instead of face-to-face.
KNT Co., whose in-store sales account for about 70% of its total sales, also plans to shut 68 stores in the seven prefectures for the time being.
The three companies intend to pay full wages to their employees on leave, through such means as utilizing the government's employment adjustment subsidies.
Hotels struggling
Hotels have been also hit hard by the decline in demand. Hankyu Hanshin Hotels Co. announced Wednesday that it will close seven hotels in Tokyo and Osaka from Monday to May 31. A company called "and factory," which operates 10 facilities in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka under the "& And Hostel" brand, decided to temporarily close all its facilities in stages.
Airline companies have announced additional flight reductions one after another. Skymark Airlines Inc. will cut 631 flights on 14 routes, including flights to and from Haneda and Fukuoka airports, from Saturday to April 30. The number of Skymark flights to be cut in April totals 2,545, including those already announced. This accounts for about 55% of its total flights.
Low-cost carrier Peach Aviation Ltd. also announced additional 2,872 domestic flights would be trimmed by the end of May. The reduction rate from April to May is 57%.
This has begun to have a particular impact on long-distance distribution services. Yamato Transport Co. said Wednesday there would be delays in delivery services to Okinawa Prefecture from other parts of the country. Sagawa Express Co. also expects one- to two-day delays in delivery by air to Hokkaido, Kyushu and Okinawa from other areas of Japan.
Japan Post Co. said it will stop accepting refrigerated and frozen parcels from and to Okinawa Prefecture for the time being. It plans to continue delivery services within the prefecture.
6,500 MMC workers on leave
Amid the spread of the virus, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plans to put its factory workers on temporary leave. The measure covers about 6,500 employees at its three factories in Japan. The employees are expected to be paid most of their wages.
At the automaker's largest production center, the Mizushima plant in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, production of mini vehicles and other cars halted on March 27, but operations will continue until April 23. The Okazaki plant in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, where cars such as sport-utility vehicles are produced, is scheduled to stop operations from Thursday to April 17, while Pajero Manufacturing Co., MMC's subsidiary in Sakahogi, Gifu Prefecture, is planned to be closed from Monday to April 30.
Nissan Motor Co. is considering putting its employees on temporary leave while operations are suspended at its Tochigi plant in Kaminokawa, Tochigi Prefecture, and at a plant of its subsidiary Nissan Motor Kyushu in Kanda, Fukuoka Prefecture.
Nissan intends not to place employees at its Oppama factory in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on temporary leave, and instead have them inspect equipment and conduct other work.
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