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Sendai Airport: Struggling to recover |
JAPAN. Japan is remembering the terrible impact of the earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011, its worst national disaster since World War II.
Close to the heart of the tragedy was Sendai Airport, which stood up to the force of the tsunami that devastated the northern coast of Japan’s largest island, Honshu. But one year on the airport is struggling to return to its pre-tsunami levels, as the people of Miyagi Prefecture try to rebuild their lives.
The first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake sees Sendai Airport fully operational, but with a long way to go for recovery.
“International airlines are running down the number of their services or postponing the resumption of operations,” said Toshiharu Takahashi, Director of General Affairs in the Sendai Airport Office of the Tokyo Regional Civil Aviation Bureau.
According to terminal operator Sendai Airport Terminal Building Co, from November 2011 to January 2012 international passenger numbers were down about half on the same period a year earlier.
Sendai Airport was at the centre of the area struck first by the massive earthquake. The resultant tsunami roared across the tarmac at Sendai Airport, the region’s major aviation gateway.
The airport terminal withstood wave surges to provide safe haven for more than 1,200 people.
But many across the region were not so fortunate: almost 20,000 people lost their lives and 6,000 were injured. Rebuilding is a massive task made more difficult by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
Sendai Airport restored its retail operations by 25 July 2011, with food & beverage outlets open from 11 September.
But conditions are likely to be depressed for the rest of 2012 at least, Takahashi said.
“Earnings are showing an upward trend,” he told The Moodie Report. “However, it will take a little more time for business recovery to the level prior to the disaster of last March.”
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The airport’s buildings helped protect the lives of over 1,200 people last year |
Help for Japan
To help the victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, donations can be made to the following two charities:
1. Donations to Disaster Victims
http://www.pref.miyagi.jp/english/kihu-e.htm
Donations are to be allocated by a donation committee made up of Miyagi Prefecture, the Red Cross and local municipalities.
(More information about the Miyagi Prefectural Government’s response to the disaster are at http://www.pref.miyagi.jp/english/index.htm)
2. The Donation Account for Children Orphaned by the Great East Japan Earthquake
http://www.pref.miyagi.jp/kosodate//01kosodate/kihukouza/kihukouza_Eng.htm
This fund will help children who lost their parents in the disaster to live stable lives and follow their chosen career paths.
Note: Peter Dowling’s feature articles on Japan’s travel retail market appear in the March Print Edition of The Moodie Report, out now.
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Source: Tokyo Regional Civil Aviation Bureau – Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism |
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