The number of international travelers at Narita Airport last year recovered to nearly 70 percent of the levels seen before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Officials at Narita International Airport said about 25 million travelers on international flights used the airport near Tokyo in 2023. That's about 68 percent of the figure in 2019, or before pandemic travel restrictions were imposed.

The number of non-Japanese travelers rebounded to 88 percent of pre-pandemic levels. The airport operator says removal of Covid-19 border controls and the weaker yen helped boost the numbers. However, the number of Japanese using international flights came in at just 41 percent of the 2019 level.

It was a different picture again for domestic flights, with the number of passengers setting a record high of 7.6 million.

Narita International Airport President Tamura Akihiko said the total number of passengers on international flights is recovering, but the weak yen is dampening demand for overseas travel among Japanese. He said he hopes to see more of an overall recovery this year.