TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Chinese airlines are slashing flights to Japan in December, canceling more than 900 flights as diplomatic tensions over Taiwan intensify.

Cirium data shows there are 176 regular routes between Japan and China, connecting 20 Japanese airports and 36 in China, excluding Hong Kong and Macau, per Nikkei Asia. As of Thursday morning, Chinese airlines had canceled 904 flights on 72 routes, or 16% of the 5,548 originally scheduled, a significant increase from 268 cancellations on Tuesday.

Of the 13 airports impacted in Japan, Kansai Airport suffered the largest losses, with 626 inbound flights canceled. These include 80 from Nanjing, 71 from Shanghai, and 58 from Beijing, while Tokyo’s Narita Airport and Nagoya’s Chubu Airport each saw 68 cancellations.

Hokkaido’s New Chitose Airport reported 61 canceled flights, while Okinawa’s Naha Airport saw 26. Tokyo’s Haneda Airport was the least affected, with only seven cancellations out of 989 inbound flights.

China Southern and China Eastern canceled 118 and 109 flights, respectively. Midsized Shanghai-based carriers saw even steeper cuts, with Spring Airlines suspending 182 flights and Juneyao Airlines cutting 166.

Airfares have fallen sharply. According to Japan’s low-cost airline comparison site Ena, Kansai–Shanghai round-trip fares for December have dropped from about NT$4,000 (20,000 yen) last year to around NT$1,700 (8,500 yen).

Fujii Naoki, president of Narita International Airport Corp, said Chinese airlines have informed the airport of their intention to reduce flights starting in December. He expects 10–20% of the nearly 300 weekly Narita–China flights to be canceled.

Kanda Keiji, senior economist at the Daiwa Institute of Research, told Nikkei Asia, "Developments going forward will need to be watched carefully, to see whether the Chinese government will play its next card.”