People walk on a snow-covered street in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture on Feb 9, 2021.
(BEHROUZ MEHRI / AFP)
TOKYO – More than 100 domestic flights in Japan were grounded on Sunday due to heavy snow in the northern and western parts of the country, Japan's two biggest airlines said.
ANA Holdings had halted 79 flights as of 4 pm, affecting about 5,100 passengers, said Hiroaki Hayakawa, an operations director for the airline.
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Japan Airlines Co had canceled 49 flights as of 4 pm, affecting 2,460 passengers, a representative with the airline's operations division said.
Worldwide, thousands of flights have been canceled over the Christmas weekend because of the rapid spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant.
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Japan, which tightened border controls to counter the threat from Omicron, has reported only about a dozen cases of community spread of the new variant and 231 total Omicron infections, including overseas arrivals, according to the health ministry.