Some Int’l Flight Services Restart at Kansai Airport

September 9, 2018

Osaka- Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture restarted some international flight services Saturday after a closure from Tuesday due to damage from a violent typhoon.

Some dozen flights including international freight services were operated mainly by low-cost carriers.

The number is substantially lower than the levels before Typhoon Jebi caused the closure. But the airport operator intends to increase the number gradually.

Part of the international services at the airport will be moved to the nearby airports of Itami and Kobe until the typhoon-damaged airport is fully restored.

Starting Saturday, some domestic flight services were transferred to the Itami airport, officially called Osaka International Airport.

The Kansai airport's Terminal 2 and Runway B, where damage was minor, were used for international flights. The first plane departed shortly past noon (3 a.m. GMT). Domestic flights using the airport resumed Friday.

According to sources including the airport operator, work to discharge water has almost finished at Runway A, where water reached up to 50 centimeters due to a storm surge, and the flooded Terminal One. The operator hopes to partially reopen the facilities within a week.

Part of the southern side of the access bridge to the airport is blocking the railway line after the bridge was hit by a tanker pushed by strong winds from the typhoon.

The portion must be removed in order to start work to reopen the railway line. According to West Nippon Expressway Co., or Nexco West, however, the removal work will take some two weeks.

Up to 16 domestic flights per day have been transferred to Itami using the airport's slots for special flights.

The transfer, which took effect Saturday, was approved at a meeting of a council of 10 cities near the airport the previous day. It will also discuss the transfer of international flights. Jiji Press