A Japanese travel agency has canceled a service offering in-flight lectures from "beautiful" female university students after a barrage of online criticism accusing the firm of sexism.

HIS travel firm dropped the in-flight package Wednesday, its intended launch day, with a message saying sorry after its website was overrun with complaints from angry netizens.

"The company offers a sincere apology that the campaign caused unpleasant feelings to many people," said a statement titled "Apology" on its website.

Japan is no stranger to allegations of sexism in the workplace. Efforts to boost female workforce participation have floundered, with a deeply entrenched sexism blamed for keeping women at home.

HIS' service offered travelers a chance to sit next to a "beautiful girl" from Tokyo University, Japan's equivalent of Harvard or Oxford, and receive a "fun lecture" about their area of study.

HIS' Twitter account was bombarded with complaints the campaign was "sexist," accusing the company of treating the women like bar "hostesses."

The students who appeared in the ads belong to a university club intended to change the stereotypical image of its female scholars as "nerds always studying and not having fun," the group's website said.