As confusion continued Thursday over a massive shortage of World Cup tickets for Japan matches, 319 soccer fans left Narita airport for Paris aboard a special Japan Airlines flight.
"Although we heard that many might cancel their trips, the number of passengers was beyond what we had anticipated," a JAL spokesman said. The flight was fully booked.
Neither JAL nor All Nippon Airlines plan to cancel their extra flights at the moment, airline officials said. ANA's first extra flight leaves for Paris today. Harlequin Air Corp., an affiliate of Japan Air System Co., is also sending its first World Cup charter flight from Sendai to Toulouse via Tokyo and Helsinki today.