Greater Bay Airlines will launch direct flights between Hong Kong and a lesser-known Japanese city, with tourism experts saying it may become a popular destination for residents who visit the country frequently and are getting bored with its traditional attractions.
The airline announced on Monday that the scheduled flights to Yonago in Tottori Prefecture, located on the western coast of Honshu island, would launch on October 27, expanding its network in Japan to three destinations, after Tokyo and Osaka.
The new service between Hong Kong and Yonago Kitaro Airport will run three times a week, with the airline saying it currently operated charter flights to meet demand during the summer holiday.
Tourism industry representatives said they expected demand for the new route to be high, since Greater Bay Airlines would be the only local carrier offering it.
Timothy Chui Ting-pong, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, said Hongkongers who visited Japan frequently were “getting bored” with some first-tier cities such as Tokyo and Osaka and could be keen to explore sightseeing spots in the new destination.
“Hongkongers can easily access Tottori Sand Dunes, a national reserve near Yonago, with scheduled services,” he said.
Chui said he believed Yonago, located about 200km (124 miles) north of Hiroshima, could become a popular destination among Hongkongers, as tourists could soak in the hot springs and enjoy winter snow and scenery there.
Steve Huen Kwok-chuen, executive director of EGL Tours, said it “made sense for airlines to explore second-tier cities in Japan”, given the country’s popularity among residents.
He added that Japanese authorities would likely welcome the new initiative and want second-tier cities to “replicate the tourism development seen in [their] first-tier cities”.
A Post search on the GBA Airlines website showed that a return ticket between 27 October and 5 November costs HK$2,038 (US$262).
The outbound flight at 11.45am to Yonago Kitaro Airport, located in Sakaiminato, a coastal city about 29km north of Yanago itself, costs HK$1190, with a duration of three hours and 35 minutes.
The inbound flight was marked as free on the website, but customers would still have to pay HK$848 in surcharges.
Currently, no other airline offers direct flights from Hong Kong to Yonago, and those who want travel there must first fly to another major city in Japan, then transit locally.
Yonago is a major city in the western part of Tottori, renowned for its natural scenery, including Mount Daisen and Tottori Sand Dune.
Mount Daisen is a large volcanic mountain that dominates the terrain in Tottori Prefecture.
Sakaiminato is the childhood home of legendary manga artist Shigeru Mizuki, and Yonago Kitaro Aiport is named after his most famous creation, Kitaro, a one-eyed ghost boy who is the lead character in the comic book series “GeGeGe no Kitaro”.
Mizuki Shigeru Road, also in Sakiminato, features 170 bronze statues of the artist’s manga characters.
About 1.3 million Hongkongers visited Japan in the first half of the year, over 40 per cent more compared with the same period in 2023, according to official data.
The overall number of tourists from Hong Kong to Japan before the pandemic in 2019 was about 2.2 million.
The airline kicked off its scheduled services in July 2022 and currently operates flights to Bangkok, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka, Manila and Haikou with a fleet of eight Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
