Travelers across Japan are facing a deeply frustrating day in the air as widespread delays and cancellations ripple through the country’s busiest airports. On February 8, 2026, a combined total of around 60 flights were cancelled and nearly 850 delayed across the network, with Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka among the hardest hit. Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways (ANA), and regional carrier ANA Wings are at the center of the disruption, leaving passengers queueing for hours, scrambling for rebookings, and in many cases unsure when they will finally reach their destinations.
What Is Happening Across Japan’s Skies Today
The current disruption represents one of the most severe days of irregular operations for Japanese aviation so far this year. While delays and weather-related issues are hardly unusual in a busy winter season, the scale of today’s meltdown is striking. Around 60 flights have been cancelled outright, while approximately 848 are running late, affecting tens of thousands of passengers on domestic and international routes.
The epicenter of the chaos is Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, Japan’s primary domestic hub and one of the busiest airports in Asia. Haneda alone has logged hundreds of delayed flights and dozens of cancellations, with knock-on effects radiating out to other key cities including Osaka, Fukuoka, Sapporo’s New Chitose, Naha in Okinawa, and Kagoshima in Kyushu. Even routes that are not directly disrupted are feeling the strain, as aircraft and crews are left out of position.
Although detailed operational reasons vary flight by flight, the result for travelers is the same: long lines at check-in and rebooking counters, congested departure halls, and crowded airport lounges. Many passengers who expected a routine hop between Japanese cities today instead find themselves facing uncertain onward connections, missed meetings, and hastily rearranged plans.
How Japan Airlines, ANA, and ANA Wings Are Involved
Japan’s two largest carriers, Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA), along with ANA’s regional subsidiary ANA Wings, are bearing the brunt of the disruption simply because they operate the majority of domestic flights in and out of the affected hubs. Early-day operations were already strained, and as delays stacked up throughout the morning and afternoon, schedules across these airlines began to unravel.
Japan Airlines has reported multiple cancellations and several hundred delayed flights, particularly on high-frequency domestic corridors linking Tokyo Haneda with cities such as Fukuoka, Osaka Itami, Sapporo, and Kagoshima. ANA, with an extensive network that also leans heavily on Haneda and Osaka, is in a similar position: a small number of outright cancellations paired with a very large wave of delays, many of them exceeding an hour.
ANA Wings, a regional carrier that operates smaller aircraft on shorter domestic sectors under the ANA brand, has seen a disproportionate impact from disrupted rotations. When one or two early flights are delayed or cancelled in this regional network, aircraft and crews can quickly end up out of sequence, triggering further delays on subsequent legs. For travelers, this means that even short hops on seemingly low-risk routes have been affected, adding to the sense of uncertainty and frustration.
Major Cities Feeling the Impact: Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka
Tokyo’s Haneda Airport is the single most impacted facility, and its central role in Japan’s domestic aviation system explains why today’s problems are so widespread. As the primary base for both Japan Airlines and ANA’s domestic fleets, Haneda handles a dense web of departures and arrivals that feed into nearly every major Japanese city. When this hub experiences severe delays, the ripple effect is swift and far-reaching.
Osaka Itami, which functions mainly as a domestic airport serving Japan’s second-largest metropolitan area, has seen large numbers of delayed flights, especially those connected to Haneda. With tight turnarounds and frequent shuttle services to Tokyo, even modest disruptions at either end quickly cascade. Passengers in Osaka have reported long queues at counters as they attempt to switch flights or secure confirmations for later services.
Fukuoka, a key gateway to Kyushu and an important domestic and regional hub, is experiencing similar challenges. Flights to and from Tokyo, Osaka, and other regional cities are running significantly late, with some departures cancelled altogether. For travelers connecting in Fukuoka to reach more remote parts of Kyushu, this has meant missed onward flights and, in some cases, unexpected overnight stays. Other airports such as Sapporo’s New Chitose, Naha in Okinawa, and Kagoshima are also seeing high levels of disruption, underlining just how interconnected Japan’s domestic flight network has become.
Why So Many Flights Are Delayed or Cancelled
The causes of today’s disruption are multi-layered, which is often the case when such a large number of flights are affected at once. Winter in Japan regularly brings challenging weather, from heavy snow in northern regions to strong winds and poor visibility along coastal areas. Even when conditions remain within safe operating limits, they can force air traffic control to reduce runway capacity or impose spacing between flights, inevitably leading to delays.
Operational constraints are amplifying the effect. Tight scheduling practices mean that most aircraft are planned for multiple legs in a single day. When an early sector is delayed, there is little slack in the system to absorb the knock-on effects, especially at hub airports where gate space, ground handling capacity, and air traffic slots are already stretched. Crew duty time limits can also come into play, forcing airlines to cancel or heavily delay flights if pilots or cabin crew exceed their legally permitted hours due to earlier holdups.
There is also the lingering shadow of broader structural pressures in the aviation sector. While Japan’s airlines have restored much of their pre-pandemic capacity, staffing levels and aircraft availability remain finely balanced. Any unexpected maintenance issue, weather pattern, or surge in air traffic can quickly tip operations into disruption. On a day like today, where multiple issues appear to have converged, the result is a widespread and visible breakdown in schedule reliability.
How Passengers Are Being Affected on the Ground
For many travelers, the disruption is not just a matter of numbers on a departure board. At Haneda, Itami, and Fukuoka, passengers describe scenes of packed terminals, long waits to speak to airline staff, and difficulty securing updated information on revised departure times. Families traveling with children and older passengers face particular challenges as comfortable seating and quiet areas fill up.
Business travelers, who rely heavily on Japan’s usually punctual domestic network for same-day trips, are among the hardest hit. Missed meetings, postponed site visits, and disrupted onward international connections are already being reported. For international passengers whose itineraries begin or end in Japan, a delayed domestic hop can mean missing a long-haul flight and potentially being stuck in the country overnight with limited accommodation near airports.
Emotional strain is also evident. Passengers who planned short leisure breaks or essential visits are confronting the possibility of losing precious days to airport waiting areas. While airline staff are working to rebook travelers and offer alternative itineraries, the sheer volume of delays and cancellations means that many people are being told to expect significant waits, stand-by arrangements, or departures pushed into late evening or even the following day.
What Airlines Are Offering: Rebooking, Refunds, and Support
Japan Airlines, ANA, and ANA Wings have activated their standard irregular operations procedures, which typically include free rebooking onto later flights when available, and in some cases fare adjustments or refunds when trips are no longer possible or meaningful. At airport counters, staff are prioritizing same-day rebookings for passengers with urgent needs or international connections, while encouraging others to shift travel to later dates where feasible.
Depending on the underlying cause of the disruption and the specific fare conditions of each ticket, passengers may be eligible for options such as voluntary refunds, change fee waivers, or rerouting via alternate airports. For instance, some travelers originally booked to fly into or out of Haneda are being offered rebookings through Narita or Kansai, with ground transfers at their own or shared expense. Premium cabin passengers and frequent flyers may find it easier to secure seats on these alternative routings, though availability is tightening quickly.
On the ground, airlines and airport operators are deploying additional staff to help manage crowds, make announcements, and provide updates on gate changes and revised times. Some passengers are receiving food and drink vouchers during extended delays, particularly when they are already through security and have limited access to dining choices. However, the uneven nature of the disruption means that not every traveler is receiving the same level of support, contributing to rising frustration in some parts of the terminals.
Practical Advice if You Are Flying in Japan Today or Soon
For travelers with flights in Japan today or over the coming days, the most important step is to stay informed and flexible. Check your flight status frequently through your airline’s official channels and mobile app, and allow significantly more time than usual to reach the airport and get through check-in and security. With terminals under pressure, queues for bag drop and security screening are likely to be longer than normal, particularly at peak times.
If your flight is delayed, resist the temptation to join the longest line immediately. Many airlines now allow same-day rebooking or standby requests online or through their apps, which can save an hour or more of waiting at a counter. If you do need to speak to an agent in person, look for lesser-used desks away from the main central areas, or seek out your airline’s lounge staff if you have access, as they may be able to process changes more quickly.
Travelers making tight connections, especially those linking a domestic Japanese flight with an international long-haul service, should proactively contact their airline as soon as a delay appears likely to jeopardize their onward journey. In some cases, airlines can protect you on a later international departure or reroute you through a different hub before you actually miss your flight. Keep all boarding passes, receipts, and documentation related to delays and additional expenses, as these may be necessary if you later seek compensation, insurance claims, or goodwill gestures from the airline.
What This Disruption Reveals About Japan’s Air Travel Resilience
Japan has long been known for the reliability and punctuality of its transportation systems, from high-speed rail to domestic air travel. Today’s meltdown underscores that even in such a well-run environment, complex networks are vulnerable when several pressures align. High utilization of aircraft and crews, strong seasonal travel demand, and increasingly volatile weather patterns all combine to create conditions where one bad day can rapidly become a system-wide headache.
The current disruption may prompt Japan’s airlines and regulators to examine whether additional buffers, such as more reserve aircraft or enhanced crew rostering flexibility, are needed to protect schedule integrity. However, adding resilience comes with costs, from higher staffing levels to lower fleet utilization, and these costs ultimately filter through to fares. Striking the right balance between efficiency and robustness will remain a central challenge for Japan’s aviation sector in the years ahead.
For today’s passengers, though, the focus is more immediate: reaching their destinations safely and as quickly as possible. As operations gradually stabilize and aircraft and crews return to their planned rotations, delays should slowly ease. Until then, travelers across Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and beyond are experiencing firsthand how even a famously punctual system can falter when confronted with a perfect storm of operational stress.