Narita International Airport Corporation (NAA) has appointed Takumi Shimizu as Director of Product Division II in NAA Retailing Corporation’s FaSoLa Shops Merchandising Department.

 

Shimizu will take on responsibility for product categories, including perfume and cosmetics, liquor and tobacco and replaces outgoing Product Division II Director, Norifumi Uesugi, who returns to Narita International Airport Corporation on June 30.

 

“It has been a pleasure and a privilege to have worked with great people,” Uesugi commented. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your support and for making my experience at NAA Retailing an exciting and rewarding one. I truly enjoyed building our business together.

 

“My successor, Takumi Shimizu, will be fully dedicated to keep growing our mutual business. I wish everyone the best and hope our paths will cross again.”

 

Meanwhile, Shimizu’s appointment comes at an important time for time for NAA Retailing as foreign visitor numbers to Japan continue to grow strongly due to the weakness of the yen.

 

 

 

 

‘FOREIGN ARRIVALS UP BY 20%’

According to monthly traffic figures published by NAA, foreign passenger numbers have grown by an average of more than 20% per month year-on-year since mid-2013. However, Japanese passenger numbers travelling internationally through Narita Airport have fallen most months during the same period.

 

According to NAA’s latest figures, some 10.02m international passengers used Narita Airport from January to April 2014, down 3% year on year. Foreign passenger numbers rose 22% to 3.34m during the first four months of this year while Japanese international passenger numbers at Narita fell 7.5% to 4.87m year-on-year.

 

Tokyo Narita International Airport.

 

International transit passenger numbers remained stable at 1.8m during January to April 2014, unchanged from last year. In April the number of foreign international passengers at Narita actually exceeded Japanese international passengers (not including transit passenger numbers) with 994,000 foreign passengers using international flights at the airport compared with 931,000 Japanese passengers.

 

Meanwhile, a total of 30.55m international passengers used Narita Airport from January to December 2013, recording a 3% increase compared with the previous year.

 

Foreign international passengers using Narita Airport rose 19% to 8.79m in 2013, while Japanese passengers travelling internationally through Narita fell 2% to 16.10m in 2013. International transit passenger numbers at Narita in 2013 fell 1% to 5.68m.

 

[TOP IMAGE: Norifumi Uesugi, who returns to Narita International Airport Corporation on June 30 this month].