No Restart in Sight for Typhoon-Hit Kansai International Airport

September 5, 2018

Osaka- Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture was closed on Tuesday after a runway and other areas were submerged by tidal waves as powerful Typhoon Jebi battered western Japan, and there is no prospect for its restart at the moment, according to its operator.

At the airport on an artificial island in Osaka Bay, the terminal building and other facilities were also exposed to seawater.

Furthermore, a drifting 2,591-ton tanker crashed into the only bridge between the airport island and the opposite shore, raising the need for safety checks before the damaged bridge is reopened.

The access bridge was closed before the accident, due to strong winds.

The Japan Transport Safety Board has appointed three investigators to conduct an on-site investigation from Wednesday.

The airport, which is used for 460 to 470 passenger flights and some 40 cargo flights per day on average, was closed at 3 p.m. (6 a.m. GMT), according to the transport ministry and its operator, Kansai Airports.

After the access bridge's closure, more than 3,000 people were stuck in the airport.

Even though the airport on the reclaimed island is susceptible to storm surges, an official of the ministry's Civil Aviation Bureau said, "Such a serious situation seems to be unprecedented."

In the city of Osaka, the sea level became 329 centimeters high at one point around 2 p.m., according to the Meteorological Agency.

If the reading is confirmed, it will top the current record tide level of 293 centimeters, set amid a massive typhoon in September 1961, the agency said. Jiji Press