(Yicai) Nov. 20 -- Chinese carriers have reimbursed more than 500,000 air tickets to Japan within three days of offering free refunds and rescheduling options after China advised its citizens to avoid traveling there amid rising political tensions between the two nations, according to an industry insider.

Bookings for flights operated by Chinese mainland airlines to Japan had dropped by 543,000 on Nov. 18 from Nov. 15, meaning that more than half a million tickets were canceled from Nov. 15 to 17, aviation expert Li Hanming told Yicai.

More than a dozen Chinese carriers, including the three biggest state-owned groups -- China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, and Air China -- and some private ones, are offering free refunds and rescheduling options to passengers who booked flights to Japan between Nov. 15 and Dec. 31.

“Cancellations to Tokyo were relatively less, with the bulk concentrated on Osaka and other second-tier Japanese cities," Li noted. “This indicates that the majority of those canceling their trips were leisure tourists.”

Spring Japan, in which Chinese carrier Spring Airlines holds a 33 percent stake and Japan Airlines the rest, became the first Japanese airline to accept free refunds and rescheduling on China-Japan routes on Nov. 18.

On Nov. 14, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its missions in Japan urged Chinese citizens to avoid traveling to the country for now and advised those already there to pay close attention to the local security situation, stay alert, and take extra safety precautions.

The number of travelers from China to Japan dropped 11 percent on Nov. 18 from a week earlier, while the average passenger load factor fell by 12 percentage points, according to data from flight tracking platform Flight Manager.

Some domestic airlines have canceled Japan flights and redeployed capacity to destinations with relatively higher demand.

Among tourists abandoning their Japan plans, some are switching to Southeast Asia, others are traveling domestically, and some are simply staying at home, a marketing official at one airline said. For those still traveling abroad, warmer climes will the favored destinations, the person added.

Bookings for the domestic “warm winter” destinations of Hainan, Yunnan, and Guangdong provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region between Nov. 19 and Dec. 31 surged 13 percent to 4.72 million as of Nov. 18 from a year earlier, according to flight tracker app Umetrip.

Outbound travel is also concentrated on warmer climes, with Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, and Macau among the most sought-after destinations.

Editor: Martin Kadiev