Thousands stranded at Japan airport after heavy snow

TOKYO: Heavy snow in northern Japan caused transport chaos over the holiday weekend, with flights and train services cancelled and thousands of passengers forced to camp out at a regional airport for three straight nights.

Sapporo on Hokkaido island had up to 96 centimetres of snow as of Friday night, the city’s heaviest snowfall in half a century, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The snow blanketed New Chitose Airport, the main gateway to the northern island region, and caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled.

Some 2,500 people were forced to stay there on Thursday night, 6,000 on Friday night and 2,600 in Saturday night, according to a security official at the airport.