Typhoon Chan-hom cancels 58 ANA flights, disrupts Obon travel in Japan's Kanto region
Passengers moving through Tokyo's Haneda and Narita airports today face mass cancellations as Typhoon Chan-hom bears down on Japan's Kanto region during peak Obon holiday travel. ANA canceled 58 flights, JAL canceled four, JR East suspended parts of the Joban Line, per News On Ja
Typhoon Chan-hom, designated Typhoon No. 15, is disrupting one of the busiest travel periods of the year in Japan as it approaches the Kanto region. All Nippon Airways canceled 58 flights serving Haneda and Narita airports, including routes linking Haneda with Fukuoka and Hiroshima and Narita with Sapporo and Osaka, according to News On Japan. Japan Airlines canceled four flights by late morning, with impacts centered on the same two airports. JAL is waiving change and refund fees for passengers booked on flights to airports expected to be affected. JR East suspended regular Joban Line services between Mito in Ibaraki Prefecture and Iwaki in Fukushima Prefecture, along with several Hitachi limited express trains between Iwaki and Sendai. NEXCO East has warned that heavy rain could force highway closures across the Kanto region between August 11 and 12, including a section of the Ken-O Expressway. Japanese meteorological forecasters expect the storm to make landfall near Ibaraki Prefecture between 6 and 9 p.m. local time. The storm has followed an unusual westward course toward Fukushima and Ibaraki, an area rarely struck directly by typhoons approaching from the east, leaving local operators with less established playbooks for this specific track even as they move early to cancel services. The disruption coincides with the Obon holiday period, when large numbers of travelers move between major cities and hometowns across Japan.