A blizzard in northern Japan forced airlines to cancel 94 flights Thursday, mainly those to and from airports in Hokkaido, airline officials said.
Some 66 cm of snow fell in the 24 hours to 3 p.m. Thursday in Kitami, near the Sea of Okhotsk. The city has been blanketed by 165 cm of snow, the highest level since 1974, the Meteorological Agency said.
The agency said that snow may fall in the Kanto region over the weekend, due to a low-pressure system expected to pass over the sea south of Honshu.
New Chitose Airport near Sapporo, where most flights were grounded Wednesday, reopened one of its two runways Thursday morning, though airline services continued to be affected, with 47 flights canceled, airport officials said.
Airlines also canceled all flights to and from Memambetsu, Wakkanai, and Okhotsk Monbetsu in Hokkaido.
Some services outside Hokkaido, including flights to Okinawa from Fukuoka and Nagoya, were also canceled as planes were grounded up north.
The cancellations included 19 Japan Airlines flights, 17 Japan Air System flights and 16 Air Nippon Airways flights, the officials said, adding that about 12,000 passengers were affected.