Getting There

There are different airlines that fly out of Australia to Japan several times a day, with direct flights from the big cities such as Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Cairns, to some of Japan’s major metropolises, including Tokyo and Osaka.

Flights from Australia to Japan

Direct

A direct flight from Australia to Japan takes between seven and ten hours. From Cairns, for instance, it takes seven-and-a-half hours to reach Osaka, while flying from the Gold Coast to Tokyo requires approximately nine hours. You can use services like Skyscanner which find the best deals for flights to Japan.

Here are the four airline companies that offer direct flights from Australia to Japan:

• Japan Airlines – Sydney to Tokyo (Narita)
• Jetstar – Melbourne to Tokyo (Narita), Cairns to Osaka,
• Qantas – Sydney to Tokyo (Haneda), Brisbane to Tokyo (Narita)
• All Nippon Airways – Sydney to Tokyo (Haneda)

With stops

There are also many other airline companies that fly from Australia to Japan with at least one layover in other nearby cities such as Auckland, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, and Shanghai. Some of them are as follows:

• AirAsia X
• Air China
• Air New Zealand
• American Airlines
• Asiana Airlines
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Cebu Pacific
• Emirates
• EVA Air
• Jetstar
• Korean Air
• Malaysia Airlines
• Philippine Airlines
• Vietnam Airlines
• Xiamen Airlines

Ticket prices

Ticket prices from Australia to Japan vary, and they are usually cheaper during off-peak tourist seasons.

During the cherry blossoms, autumn foliage, winter season and other Japanese holidays, the cost of travel tends to be higher, so if you are travelling on a budget, booking return tickets outside of these times of the year is advised, and try booking in advanced to get cheaper prices.

A one-way ticket to Japan can go as high as A$500 (40,000 yen) from late March to mid-April (cherry blossoms season) and as low as A$140 (11,000 yen) in the months of May and June.

Travel classes

Airline companies offer different travel classes for travel between Australia and Japan: economy, premium economy, business, and first class.

Because travelling economy is the cheapest, the services and amenities that are offered are few, such as limited legroom and seat comfort, and only the basic meals and beverage options.

On the other hand, because business class and first class cost more, passengers travelling in this class get to board the plane first, enjoy more leg room and better seat comfort, and are offered a wider selection of food and beverages.