Typhoon Hagibis has seen hundreds of flights cancelled around Japan, causing extensive disruptions. Whilst the worst impact from the typhoon was felt over the weekend, major airports such as Narita and Haneda are warning of further disruptions today, Monday, October 14, 2019, as airlines mop up in the aftermath of the typhoon.

A trail of damage and destruction

Typhoon Hagibis has killed some 30 people, injured scores more, and dumped a hefty 30 inches of rain on parts of Japan. It was Japan’s worst typhoon in decades and hit areas around Tokyo hard. It caused significant damage with helicopters evacuating people from their homes yesterday. Significant floodwaters are still impacting areas north of Tokyo.

As the typhoon bore down on Japan leading up to the weekend, Forbes reported that some 1600 flights had been cancelled. ANA cancelled all of its domestic flights on Saturday. JAL cancelled some 90% of their flights on the same day. British Airways cancelled its flights into Japan and most international airlines with flights scheduled in and out of Tokyo over the weekend were impacted. Nearly 200,000 passengers were impacted.

Airlines getting back to normal business today

This morning JAL is getting back to business. JAL says some of their domestic operations at Narita may be cancelled today but they expect the majority of their domestic services to operate with minimal delays. JAL expects most of their international flights will operate normally. The exception is flights to Hong Kong where adverse weather and “public activities” is affecting Hong Kong Airport.

On Saturday, October 12, 2019, JAL cancelled all their flights in and out of both Narita and Haneda with the exception of a few morning flights. Yesterday, JAL operations at both airports remained “restricted” with many delays and cancellations. JAL flights at both Nagoya Chubu and Osaka Kansai were similarly impacted although not to the extent of the Tokyo airports.

All Nippon Airways similarly expects operations to get back to normal today. It followed a hellish weekend for ANA. On Saturday, October 12, 2019, ANA cancelled all flights at Haneda, Narita, Nagoya Chubu, and Osaka Kansai Airports. Yesterday, ANA flights in and out of Narita remained cancelled. At Haneda yesterday, most ANA flights were cancelled. Whilst ANA expects things to get back to normal today, it is warning passengers that there may be further delays or cancellations.

International airlines also affected

The bulk of the international airlines flying into Tokyo cancelled services over the weekend. Today most international airlines will be operating normal services. However, some departures from Japan may be impacted owing to incoming flights having been cancelled.

Both airlines are offering refunds for passengers who were impacted by the weekend flight cancellations.

Typhoon Hagabis hit Japan when it was hosting two big sporting events - the Japanese Grand Prix and the Rugby World Cup. Between them, the events draw in hundreds of thousands of tourists.

As Japan starts to clean up, Simple Flying extends its best wishes to those affected.