Want to go home? Not so fast—Hokkaido’s heavy snow continues, forcing flights to be diverted to Narita and departure delayed until the next day

▲ New Chitose Airport buried in heavy snow, with 3,000 passengers stranded yesterday. (Photo / Provided by reader)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

Hokkaido is experiencing severe weather, with blizzards hitting cities such as Sapporo and Hakodate yesterday. New Chitose International Airport has been closed due to the heavy snow, and nearly all airlines have announced flight suspensions. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency website, most areas of Hokkaido saw red and yellow heavy snow warnings at one point today (23rd), leaving many travelers still unable to board their flights smoothly.

New Chitose International Airport in Hokkaido was closed yesterday due to heavy snow, leading various airlines to successively announce flight suspensions. Around 200 flights were canceled, leaving 3,000 passengers stranded at the airport. Due to the ongoing snowstorm, China Airlines flight BR0116 and EVA Air flight CI130 from Taipei to New Chitose Airport were both diverted to Tokyo Narita Airport due to the weather. EVA Air BR0116A is now scheduled to depart from Narita at 6:00 PM local time, while China Airlines CI130 has been rescheduled to depart from Narita at 6:30 AM on the 24th and fly to New Chitose Airport.

According to the Live Camera feed from New Chitose Airport, snow accumulation reached 41 cm at 5:00 PM local time on the 23rd, with many flights already canceled. Major travel agencies have been arranging accommodations for stranded passengers, while airlines are updating their schedules based on weather conditions. Passengers are advised to check flight information before heading to the airport.

Updated at 18:19: China Airlines flight CI131, which was affected yesterday (22nd) with 319 passengers, has today impacted CI130 Taipei–Sapporo (312 people), CI131 Sapporo–Taipei (360 people), CI134 Kaohsiung–Sapporo (302 people), and CI135 Sapporo–Kaohsiung (272 people). Among these, CI130 has been diverted to Tokyo. In total, five flights and 1,565 passengers have been affected over the past two days.