Society

Kansai airport recovers half of air traffic

Sep 19 (NHK) - Flight operations at Kansai International Airport in Osaka have been restored to about half the normal level, two weeks after a massive typhoon hit the island facility.

At the airport's major Terminal 1, a total of 183 domestic and international flights had resumed as of Tuesday. That's about 45 percent of the normal level.

Terminal 2, used by budget airlines, is almost fully operational.

Total air traffic has recovered to about 52 percent.

A storm surge caused by Typhoon Jebi flooded most of the airport on September 4th. A collision by an oil tanker into an access bridge that day led to a shutdown of the airport.

3 days later, Runway B and Terminal 2 resumed service, followed by Runway A and parts of Terminal 1 last Friday.

A woman heading to South Korea on business said she's glad the airport is resuming service, as a prolonged closure would hurt the economy of western Japan.

A curry shop worker said many shops are still closed, but will hopefully soon return to normal and make the place lively again. The airport's operator says Terminal 1 will fully reopen on Friday.

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