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Due to the impact of the earthquake in Japan, travelers can get refunds or waivers for changing their itineraries.

Published: 2026-09-24 👁 100 views

Last updated 2026-09-24 — The earthquake triggered a tsunami that hit coastal cities in northeastern Japan. Currently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a red travel alert for four prefectures in the northeastern region—Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima—as well as the eastern and southern coastal areas of Hokkaido...

The earthquake triggered a tsunami that hit coastal cities in northeastern Japan. Currently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a red travel alert for four prefectures in the northeastern region—Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima—as well as the eastern and southern coastal areas of Hokkaido. Travelers planning to cancel trips to these prefectures and cities can have their reservations canceled by travel agencies, which should refund the remaining balance after deducting any fees already paid on their behalf or necessary expenses incurred in fulfilling the contract. However, the Quality Assurance Association reminds everyone that the scope of necessary expenses varies by route. For example, in Hokkaido, most operations are based on a charter flight model, meaning travel agencies purchase all seats from airlines and cannot get refunds on tickets. Therefore, the amount travelers can get back is relatively smaller.

Due to the impact of charter flights, the refund amount that travelers in Hokkaido can receive is relatively smaller.

Currently, most airline routes to Japan have returned to normal operation, and various measures have been taken to accommodate passengers who wish to change their flights or request refunds. At Cathay Pacific, passengers who booked tickets before March 11 and are traveling between March 11 and 16, with departure, transit, or destination at Narita Airport, Haneda Airport, Kansai Airport, Fukuoka Airport, Chubu Centrair Airport, New Chitose Airport, or Okinawa, can do so without a cancellation fee. Japan Airlines states that for tickets booked before March 11 and for departures between March 11 and April 10 to Tokyo Haneda, Tokyo Narita, Sendai, Hanamaki, Aomori, Misawa, Yamagata, Akita, Shin-Chitose, and Matsumoto, passengers can cancel their tickets without a fee. Those wishing to change their itinerary and depart before May 10 will also not be charged a fee. China Airlines has more lenient refund policies: for any tickets booked before March 11 for flights to Japan, there will be no cancellation or change fees, regardless of whether the trip is canceled or the itinerary is altered. Additionally, there will be no extra charge for differences in airport taxes when changing routes. This policy also applies to flights from Taipei to Hawaii, but it does not apply to China Airlines’ premium travel services.

This earthquake has significantly impacted flights to Japan.

Meanwhile, EVA Air has made slight adjustments to its flights. In addition to canceling flights BR118 from Taoyuan Airport to Sendai and BR117 from Sendai to Taoyuan Airport from March 17 to March 31, and on April 12, 15, 19, 22, 26, and 29, as well as flight BR190 from Songshan to Tokyo Haneda on March 15 and flight BR189 from Tokyo Haneda to Songshan on March 16, tomorrow’s (March 15) flight BR189, originally scheduled to depart from Tokyo Haneda at 10:45 AM to Songshan Airport, has been rescheduled to depart at 1:45 PM. Regarding itinerary change policies, passengers who booked tickets before March 11 and are traveling between March 11 and 20 to or from Tokyo Narita and Haneda, Fukuoka, Nagoya, Osaka, Komatsu, or Sapporo can cancel their bookings. Rescheduling and itinerary change fees during this period will be waived, but the new departure date must be before April 14, 2011. Future airline response rules may be slightly adjusted depending on the situation. For detailed regulations, please refer to the announcements made by each airline. Passengers who wish to get the latest flight updates are advised to check online regularly or register their mobile phone numbers on airline websites to receive the latest SMS alerts about flight changes.