Passenger Plane Brings Masks From China To Japan
A passenger plane made landing at Narita Airport near Tokyo, carrying not passengers but masks from China.
Demand for vital medical supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic has been on the rise, while the number of overseas travelers has plunged.
The trend has prompted Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airway to fly passenger planes to carry freight.
A Japan Airlines Boeing 787 that departed from Shanghai arrived at Narita Airport on Wednesday. The pilots and crewmembers boarded the jet carrying boxes containing a total of more than 90,000 face masks.
Upon the plane's arrival, cargo staff got on the plane to carry out the boxes that had been placed inside overhead bins.
JAL plans to fly two round-trip flights between Narita and Shanghai a day to carry freight.
Nippon Cargo Airlines President Morimoto Yoshinori voiced hope of offsetting some of the plunge in passenger travel by shipping imports by air, while keeping prevailing costs in mind.
