Business aviation travel to Japan was heavily impacted by the Covid pandemic, according to data provided by the Aichi Prefectural Government. Between 2019 and 2020 the number of business aviation operations at Tokyo’s Narita and Haneda Airports dropped by half, from 5,526 to 2,771. International traffic to the area was down by nearly two-thirds as a result of strict travel restrictions.

Other regions in the country that generally see more domestic private aviation such Aichi Prefecture and its Chubu Centrair International and Nagoya Airports (Booth 2628) saw overall less erosion with traffic down by a third year-over-year.

As socio-economic activities slowly resume, Aichi officials expect the area, which among the country’s 47 prefectures has held the highest shipment value of manufactured goods for the past 43 years, to rebound in terms of business traffic. The prefecture is home to Toyota Motor and boasts Japan’s highest aerospace industry production value.

Among the recent improvements in the area is the completion of Aichi Sky Expo at Chubu Centrair, Japan’s first airport-based exhibition center, designed along the lines of Palexpo at Geneva International Airport that is home to EBACE. The facility, the largest exhibition venue in the country, features six exhibition halls totaling nearly 646,000 sq ft (60,000 sq m), 18 conference rooms, an outdoor general-purpose site of approximately 355,000 sq ft (33,000 sqm), and a parking lot capable of accommodating 3,447 vehicles.