Japan drops blanket halt of inbound flight bookings after criticism

The Japanese government on Thursday reversed its decision to completely halt bookings for inbound flights until the end of the year in the wake of criticism that the measure against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus goes too far.Prime Minister Fumio Kishida admitted the transport ministry's announcement the previous day had caused confusion, telling reporters he instructed officials to "adequately take into account" people's wishes to travel home.Under the measure, Japanese citizens and foreign residents would have been unable to return for the holidays unless they already had reservat…READ FULL ARTICLE