JAPAN. Operations at Narita International Airport in Tokyo are “gradually returning to normal” according to the airport authority, as the fallout from the devastating earthquake and tsunami of 11 March continues to be felt around the country.
Thousands are feared dead after the disaster, which hit the country’s north-east coast. There are still major concerns over the safety of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which suffered a third explosion overnight and where a radiation leak is said to have reached harmful levels.
Narita Airport Authority released a statement today about the impact on flights and passengers over recent days. It said that 13,000 passengers were initially stranded but this dropped to just over 1,000 by yesterday, 14 March.
NAA said it had distributed food, drinks and blankets to ease passengers’ discomfort, and said no passengers had incurred any injuries.
It added: “Operations at Narita Airport have been affected but there has not been any extensive damage to airport facilities and operations are now gradually returning to normal.” Terminal building functions have now been “almost completely restored,” said NAA.
Of the 534 services scheduled for 14 March, said NAA, there were 502 arrivals and departures, with 32 cancelled flights.
However, some airlines continue to cancel and re-route flights to Narita. Today, Lufthansa announced that it would be re-routing its Narita flights from Frankfurt and Munich to Osaka and Nagoya via Seoul. These are in addition to its already scheduled flights to Osaka and Nagoya, taking Lufthansa’s schedule into Japan to four daily. This schedule is planned to last until the weekend, the airline said.
Among other leading European carriers, Air France is re-routing its Paris-Narita flights via Seoul this week, while British Airways has maintained its Narita and Tokyo Haneda schedules as normal.
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