PUBLISHED : 27 Jan 2026 at 10:18
Small
Medium
Large
Travellers spend night at Hokkaido airport as heavy snow cripples flights, trains. (Photo: GoJapan)
KYODO — Around 2,000 people were forced to spend the night at New Chitose Airport in Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido after heavy snow led to the cancellation of over 90 flights and disruptions to train services, operators said on Tuesday.
Hokkaido Airports Co allowed people to stay in the terminal for a second night, while Hokkaido Railway Co, known as JR Hokkaido, said around 140 train cancellations were scheduled on Tuesday.
Around 7,000 people stayed at the airport from Sunday night to Monday.
Up to 65 centimetres of snow fell in Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido, in the 48 hours through 10pm Monday, a record amount for the area since comparable data became available in 1999, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
AloJapan.com