Japan Airlines offering 50,000 free round trip flights during Tokyo 2020 Olympics - here’s how to get one

The free tickets will be for domestic travel within Japan and will be made available to up to 50,000 foreign nationals who visit the country in the summer.

A chance to explore

The initiative is aimed at encouraging tourists who are visiting for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to travel further during their stay, and explore other parts of the country.

It is hoped the offer will attract more tourists to see the rural areas in Japan and experience the local attractions.

The programme will run from 1 July to 30 September 2020, with applications set to open in late February, according to the Japan Times.

Applicants will be asked to select either Haneda Airport, Osaka International Airport or Kansai International Airport as their departure point, and submit their preferred travel dates.

Applicants will then be allocated tickets that will take them to and from one of four destinations, which will be selected at random by the Airline.

Japan Airlines is collaborating on the campaign to attract more visitors with the Japan National Tourism Organization and Nomura Research Institute Ltd.

In a statement, the airline said: “We hope this prompts overseas travellers to become ‘fans of Japan’.”

The initiative also hopes to reduce the number of tourists staying in Tokyo over the summer, due to an accommodation shortage during the peak travel period.

How to apply

Applications for the free flights will open in late February and will be available only for visitors to Japan in summer 2020.

Visitors must be in Japan between Monday 1 June and Saturday 31 October to be eligible.

The free tickets will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, and are available to apply for via the Japan Airlines website.