Passengers were seen lining up at the immigration counters, and airport police referred this reporter to the airlines regarding flight advisories.
Airline staff members who refused to be named said there was no advisory to cancel the flights.
A Northwest Airlines plane took off at 4:45 p.m., while a Continental aircraft left the airport at 5:25 p.m.
The Emergency Management Office at 5 p.m. yesterday said typhoon condition 1 was in effect as of 2:30 p.m.
This meant that a typhoon was 12 hours away from the island.
An EMO staff member said flights should have been cancelled, but when informed that a plane had already left and another was about to leave within minutes, the staffer said he would confer with this superiors.
As of press time at 5:30 p.m., an incoming Continental flight from Guam was expected to arrive, according to airline staff.
Another flight, also from Guam, was expected to arrive at 8:50 p.m. last night.
Staff from Northwest said they were expecting separate incoming flights at 1 a.m. and 1:40 a.m. from Narita today.
