Flight Delays and Cancellations at Tokyo Airports: What to Do
Typhoon and heavy-snow seasons disrupt flights out of Tokyo every year. When it happens, the drill is simple: check the official flight status, know your free change-or-refund rights, and secure somewhere to wait. Here is each step.
Check official flight status first
Start with the airport's own flight information, not a third-party tracker. Narita: flight information (departures · arrivals). Haneda: flight information.
Check your airline's own flight information too — JAL, for example, lets you search departure and arrival times from two days before to two days after your departure date.
Your rights: free changes and refunds
When bad weather forces a cancellation or a long delay, both major carriers waive change and refund fees. This is a force-majeure exception, not the normal fare rule.
ANA: for weather cancellations and delays there is no refund or cancellation fee, and it rebooks you onto the earliest ANA-group flight at no extra charge (international rebooking is arranged by phone). ANA — refunds and rebooking →
JAL: once a cancellation or major delay is decided, you can change to another flight or take a refund with no fee, handled online within the deadline. JAL — irregular operations · weather information
Booked through a travel agency or another airline? Handle changes through the seller you bought from. For LCCs and other carriers, check that airline's own irregular-operations policy.
If you're stuck at the airport
Drop your bags so you are not guarding a suitcase for hours — see luggage storage and delivery. If you are at Narita late, our overnight guide covers which floors stay open, capsules and first trains.
When do airlines decide?
A cancellation call can come close to departure, but airlines post it as soon as it is made and update from the day before. Keep checking the official status rather than assuming — decisions in marginal weather can go either way until late.
Keep planning
Overnight at Narita: late arrivals →
Luggage storage and delivery →
Live: the immigration queue at Haneda →