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Japan's Kumamoto airport reopens to commercial flights for first time since quake

Xinhua, April 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

Kumamoto airport in Japan's quake-ravaged southwest prefecture opened for the first time Tuesday for commercial flights, with the first plane heading for the airport in the disaster-hit region departing from Tokyo's Haneda Airport at around 6:00 a.m. this morning.

Tuesday marks the first time commercial flights resumed operations at the airport since the region was pummeled by two major quakes from Saturday and hundreds of aftershocks. All in and outbound flights from the airport were canceled following the airport's roof being damaged by the temblors.

Although local media reported that there had been a glitch with the airport's baggage handling system delaying outbound flights, airport officials said that a total of 18 flights were scheduled throughout Tuesday.

The flights are scheduled to arrive from major cities in Japan including Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.

Along with flagship carriers Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, smaller carriers including, Solaseed Air and Fuji Dream Airlines will also resume flights for Kumamoto in a limited capacity, officials confirmed.

The first flight, an ANA aircraft, for Kumamoto airport touched down from Tokyo at 7:40 a.m. in a sign that the prefecture is rallying to restore transportation systems and combat supply chain disruptions caused by the double-quake disaster that have led to food shortages in stores and supermarkets and affected the thousands still stranded in evacuation shelters.

The airport is located in the town of Mashiki, which was the epicenter of a magnitude 7.3 quake that rocked the island of Kyushu on Saturday. The region was already reeling from the impact of a magnitude 6.5 foreshock that struck on Thursday evening.

Military aircraft have been allowed to use the airport throughout the crisis to transport emergency supplies and personnel despite all commercial flights being suspended.

Passengers on arrival Tuesday, however, were not allowed to enter the terminal building for safety reasons Tuesday, airport officials said.

The airlines, according to their spokespeople, will look to boost the number of flights throughout the week, however, depending on the pace of repairs at the airport and the effects of the ongoing aftershocks. Endit