Japanese airlines halt flights as Typhoon Chan-hom nears Tokyo

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways (ANA) cancelled flights as Typhoon Chan-hom barrelled towards Japan’s main island of Honshu on Aug 11.As at 11.15am local time, ANA said all flights in and out of Narita Airport were cancelled for the day, as well as many flights in and out of Haneda Airport. Flights from airports in the northern cities of Sendai and Fukushima were also affected, ANA said in a statement.Japan Airlines said four domestic flights from Narita Airport had been cancelled, affecting 568 people.The Japan Meteorological Agency said the typhoon, which had maximum instantaneous gusts of 35m per second as at 9am, would likely approach the Tokyo region during the afternoon and may make landfall overnight.The typhoon is forecast to cross Honshu on Aug 12 before weakening into a tropical depression, the agency said.The agency also advised caution over possible landslides in the northern Tohoku region, as well as flooding in low-lying areas, including the Kanto region in and around Tokyo.Chan-hom is a Laotian word referring to a type of fragrant sandalwood tree. BLOOMBERG