Tokyo withdrawal will end Virgin Australia’s brief return to long haul arena

Virgin Australia's decision to halt its Tokyo route underlines the continued weakness of Japanese demand, and further cuts back its already limited international network.

The Australian airline intends to discontinue the flight between Cairns and Tokyo Haneda Airport from 24-Feb-2025, citing the slow recovery of the Japanese outbound travel market. This trend has also affected airlines based in Japan and elsewhere.

The Haneda route is Virgin Australia's longest flight, and Tokyo is one of just six international destinations served by the airline.

So although it is only one route, it is relatively significant in the Virgin Australia network. The airline is operating far fewer international flights than before the COVID pandemic, almost all of which are short haul.

In many ways the route was a hold-over from Virgin Australia's pre-pandemic iteration, when it had a greater focus on international services.

The airline has been operating the Tokyo flights with narrowbody aircraft, and likely wanted to retain the coveted Haneda slot for strategic reasons.

Making Cairns-Tokyo work would probably be challenging, even absent the current demand slump. The fact that Virgin Australia is cancelling the route in Feb-2025 indicates that it does not envisage a dramatic return of Japanese demand any time soon.

It also reflects Virgin Australia's continued lack of appetite to return to operating widebody aircraft that would be better suited to the Australia-Japan market.