Update: Severe Typhoon Skims Japan, Disrupting Flight, Train Services
Typhoon Ampil grazed Japan’s main island of Honshu on Friday, prompting cancellations of flights and trains in the middle of the country’s peak summer holiday season.
Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co. canceled some 90 international flights, impacting more than 15,000 passengers. The two carriers also scrapped about 560 domestic routes, disrupting roughly 104,000 travelers who were looking to fly to destinations such as Okinawa, Osaka and Fukuoka. Flights will continue to be impacted through Saturday, they added.
The weather agency had warned residents to stay indoors and be aware of water hazards and companies urged employees to work from home or return home early. The typhoon was categorized as a severe tropical storm.
The Japan Meteorological Agency urged residents to be careful of high waves, landslides, flooding of low-lying areas and rising or overflowing rivers in eastern Japan. It issued heavy rain and storm warnings for Tokyo.
Commercial facilities in and around the capital were also hit. Ueno Zoo decided to close while Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea shortened operating hours and suspended parades.
About 2,000 households suffered power outages in Chiba and other prefectures near Tokyo, according to TEPCO Power Grid Inc. Door-to-door parcel delivery company Yamato Transport Co., meanwhile, said that deliveries will likely be delayed through Saturday due to traffic disruptions.
Tokyo’s Haneda Airport was less congested on Friday than usual with some travelers stranded due to flight cancellations.
“My flight was at 8 a.m. and I came to the airport to find a solution but Air China declined to speak to me,” said Luca Perini, 33, who had planned to depart for Rome and couldn’t find a way to reschedule. “I am stuck.”
Lingering effects from the tropical storm are seen lasting through Saturday. JAL said it will cancel six international flights and 36 domestic flights, affecting some 7,000 people in total. ANA, meanwhile, will cancel two international and 32 domestic flights, which will affect about 2,500 people.
Some foreign airlines’ operations were also impacted. Korean Air Lines Co. said 12 of its flights between Japan and South Korea will be suspended on Friday and Saturday. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. said that its Japan flights are currently operating normally.
“Customers are strongly advised to check the latest flight information on our website” before their departure, a company corporate affairs official wrote via e-mail on Thursday.
Bullet train services between Tokyo and Nagoya were halted according to Central Japan Railway Co., while operations between Shin-Osaka and Nagoya were also reduced. Severe delays may occur on Saturday, the firm said.
East Japan Railway Co., which operates bullet trains to Aomori, Akita and Kanazawa, said it was planning to resume normal bullet train operations on Saturday.
East Nippon Expressway Co., which manages expressways in the Kanto region and Hokkaido, warned that some roads may be shut from Friday through Saturday, and asked travelers to reconsider their plans.
Japan’s top power producer Jera Co. said it temporarily halted the unloading of vessels while ships have dispersed away from Tokyo Bay, following guidance from the Japan Coast Guard.
Photograph: A passenger aircraft taxies on a runway at night at the Kansai International Airport in Izumisano City, Osaka, Japan. Photo credit: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Bloomberg