Major airlines based in Japan reported a record 429 cases of smoking on board domestic and international flights in 2025, the transport ministry said Monday, with the spread of heated tobacco products believed to be a major contributing factor.
The figure, the highest since comparable data became available in 2004, is a 6.6-fold increase from the lowest number recorded in 2019 at 65 cases. The government plans to work with airline carriers to raise public awareness of the risks of a fire breaking out on an aircraft.
Under a 2004 revision of the Civil Aeronautics Act, smoking in lavatories is defined as an act that endangers safety, with failure to comply with an order from the captain subject to a fine of up to 500,000 yen.
Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products were added in a 2020 revision of government guidelines as their vapor may trigger smoke detectors.
According to the ministry and other authorities, smoking in seats or aisles may also be subject to penalties if passengers do not follow instructions from the captain or crew.
The ministry receives annual reports on smoking incidents from Japanese airlines operating aircraft with more than 100 passenger seats or a maximum takeoff weight exceeding 50,000 kilograms.
While the number of airlines reporting fluctuates due to new market entrants, the number of in-flight smoking cases stood at 359 in 2004. It fell to 185 in 2007 and dropped to below 100 for the first time in 2018 at 76 cases.
Meanwhile, users of heated tobacco products in Japan have been increasing over the past decade and now account for more than 40 percent of total sales volume, according to the Tobacco Institute of Japan. Against this backdrop, reports of in-flight smoking began rising from 2020 onward.
An official from the transport ministry’s aviation security office noted that while statistics do not distinguish between conventional cigarettes and vapes or heated tobacco products, “there may be a lower sense of guilt associated with the latter.”
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has been urging passengers not to smoke through posters and in-flight videos in cooperation with airlines.
“We will also strive to understand the situation and work with airlines and the government to take necessary measures,” said Hidehiko Yoshida, 42, secretary-general of the Scheduled Airlines Association of Japan, comprised of 19 domestic airlines.
© KYODO
