Originally Posted by 13900

Is your question "why aren't there more Japan-bound flights from the UK?"

I think it's due to a few reasons.

Firstly, there is little transfer traffic via the UK for Japan, due to costs and the geographical position of the UK, and the same applies for Japan with regards to Asia. Then there's the fact that, once you got London covered, the rest of the regions aren't as interesting, or yielding, for Japanese carriers (not compared to Asia or the Americas). Then there's the fact that there isn't a fully-fledged Japanese hub, with NRT and HND doing the same job and stealing each other's passengers, with the result that the true Japanese hub is Seoul Incheon. Finally, Japan's economy is not as 'ebullient' as it was.

I don't know how much traffic is also diverted to the continent due to the UK Visa system; it's a relevant issue for Chinese visitors, for instance, but I don't know if it plays a part for Japan.