Tuesday, 29 July 2025, 18:06
Andalucía is negotiating direct flights between Japan and the south of Spain – offering the regional airports of Malaga and Seville – with the airline that has the largest fleet of planes in the land of the rising sun, All Nippon Airways (ANA). The Junta’s minister for tourism, Arturo Bernal, has expressed his satisfaction and optimism after the formal meeting held with the company’s vice-president of global operations, who is responsible for deciding where the airline will set up new connections.
“It’s a step forward and a stroke of luck to have been able to be in contact with the person in charge, which demonstrates the company’s interest in Andalucía”, said Bernal. He added that, despite the airline’s difficulties with expanding routes offered due to the lack of aircraft, it is feasible to think that, within three to five years, the southernmost region of mainland Spain could have direct flights to Japan. “The company has acknowledged that it currently does not have a direct connection with Spain, but that it is interested in growing in the medium term”, he noted. “On these types of route, everything takes time and everything is influenced by the lack of aircraft. It’s reasonable to think in terms of three to five years to achieve results, but it’s very important to start working on this now so that the company keeps Andalucía and the airports of Malaga and Seville in mind.”
The Junta de Andalucía’s regional tourism minister, Arturo Bernal, together with All Nippon Airways’ (ANA) VP for global operations.
SUR
At the meeting, held as part of Andalucía’s trade mission to Japan, Bernal presented a business document outlining the opportunities for implementing this new route. It includes an estimate that 156,000 Japanese travellers are currently visiting the Andalucía region via other airports, “so, it is an indirect business opportunity for the company, one it doesn’t currently have.” He also provided data that these visitors are of great interest because they have a high travel budget and great spending capacity, which would benefit both the airline and the destination. “The average stay is more than five days and they spend an average of 500 euros per stay,” said Bernal. He described Japanese travellers as having “good purchasing power, very attracted by the uniqueness of our destination, with a high level of cultural awareness and who are interested in the essence of what Andalucía has to offer, both culturally and through its cuisine and its heritage in general.”
At the meeting, the delegation presented the airports of Malaga and Seville as alternatives for these direct flights and explained that both are destinations that go beyond being only destinations for tourism, as both also provide very important business development opportunities. “There are many arguments so that not only tourism, but also business, can contribute to making these airports a key player for the airline,” said the regional minister for tourism.
Bernal affirmed that the parties have committed to maintaining a working group between the company and the Junta to provide all the necessary information so that “in the medium term, we can address options for growth and the implementation of new routes from Japan to Spain, with the first and foremost decision being Andalucía.”
“I’m very optimistic and certainly satisfied, even though I’m aware of the aforementioned drawbacks that may arise, but it’s crucial that they now have information about what this market represents for Andalucía and the airports discussed. They’ve realised that quite a number of passengers aren’t being transported to the region – for example, those departing from Tokyo or Kyoto, who arrive on competing airlines. These are affluent, high-net-worth tourists buying business class tickets. They’re interested in being able to recover a significant share of those tickets”, said Bernal. He summed up his take on this opportunity as follows: “We’re looking for a synergy between the two parties that allows us to develop a strategy to open these routes. If it were up to us, we would be ready. The airports are ready to serve the Japanese travelling public and the airline company, which is the one that values the suitability of the direct connection.”
AloJapan.com