At 11:25 local time, 30 July 2025, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck with an epicenter off the Kamchatka Peninsula in Far East Russia. The quake, the largest recorded in the world since 2011, triggered tsunami warnings across the region and throughout the Pacific, including Japan, Alaska, Hawaii, and the US West Coast.
As tsunami waves raced through the oceans on Wednesday, several airlines and airports took action with cancellations and diversions. The most notable was Sendai Airport in Japan, which closed its airport soon after tsunami warnings were issued by the nation’s government.
Sendai Airport Closure
With the airport closure, several aircraft were forced to divert to other airports or their origin airports. Ibex Airlines flight FW11 above, for example, was notified of the airport closure during its approach into Sendai. The aircraft landed safely in nearby Fukushima.
Sendai Airport is situated just off the Pacific coast and is vulnerable to tsunamis and seismic activity. The airport was hammered by waves during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster:
Understandably, its location by the ocean forces the airport to close quickly anytime tsunami warnings are issued.
In place of regularly scheduled aircraft in the airport’s nearby airspace were a mixture of coast guard, media, and other related agencies and their helicopters. These aircraft observe oceanic movement from the sky with the expected arrival of tsunami waves.
Hawaii Diversions
Hawaii also received tsunami warnings, which led to some flights diverting back to the Mainland United States. Airport operations have varied a bit throughout the islands.
All of these flights above were expected to land in Hawaii at around 19:00 local time, which was close to the estimated time for the first wave arrival. Many other flights scheduled later on Wednesday ended up cancelled.
Hilo International Airport had closed, while Honolulu temporarily stopped bag screening during the arrival of the first tsunami wave, but soon resumed operations, according to the state’s DOT.
According to Flightaware data, 23 flights to Honolulu were cancelled on Tuesday, while 27 flights originating in Honolulu were cancelled.
It remains to be seen what kind of operations to expect on Wednesday.
Featured image by the author.
