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Heavy snow in Japan leads to cancellation of over 100 domestic flights

WION Web Team
TokyoUpdated: Dec 26, 2021, 02:39 PM IST
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Japan Airlines planes sit on the tarmac at New Chitose Airport, in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan (file photo). Photograph:(Reuters)

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Heavy snow in the northern and western parts of Japan has led to cancellation of more than 100 domestic flights on Sunday. Around 77 flights have been stopped by ANA Holdings and 35 flights have been cancelled by Japan Airlines Co  

Heavy snow in the northern and western parts of Japan has led to cancellation of more than 100 domestic flights on Sunday, said two biggest airlines functioning in the nation.  

Around 77 flights have been stopped by ANA Holdings as of 1 pm (0400 GMT), which has affected about 5,100 passengers, said Yutaka Kitahara, operations director of the company.  

Kitahara said, "As the weather situation in northeastern Japan remains unstable, there could be more cancellations to come."   

Not just this, 35 flights have also been cancelled by Japan Airlines Co as of 10 am (0100 GMT). The move will affect 1,810 passengers, said a representative of the operations division of the airline.  

Numerous flights have already been cancelled around the world during the Christmas weekend over staffing issues due to the spread of Omicron variant of coronavirus.

As Japan has tightened border controls, the country has reported only a dozen cases of community spread of the new variant. It has recorded just 231 Omicron infections in total, which include overseas arrivals, as per the health ministry of the country.  

(With inputs from agencies)