Flights Resume at Tokyo's Narita Airport After Earthquake Strands 13,800
Tokyo Narita Airport Cancels All Flights Today After Quake
STR/AFP/Getty Images
Passengers evacuate the terminal building of Narita International Airport near Tokyo following the world's strongest earthquake in six years.
Passengers evacuate the terminal building of Narita International Airport near Tokyo following the world's strongest earthquake in six years. Photographer: STR/AFP/Getty Images
March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Mike Firn reports from Tokyo on the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of northern Japan. Mark Barton also speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Countdown." (Source: Bloomberg)
March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Tokyo’s subway system, the world’s busiest with about 8 million riders a day, shut down after today's 8.9-magnitude quake and tsunami struck the city, leaving commuters to wait hours for taxis or search for somewhere to spend the night. Retail store shelves were also left empty as people struggled to buy supplies and food amid the disaster. Police say 60 people were killed and 56 are missing, according to the Associated Press. Bloomberg's Mike Firn reports. (Source: Bloomberg)
Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, Japan’s main overseas gateway, said nine flights would leave today as carriers begin clearing a backlog of about 13,800 travelers stranded by delays following an earthquake.
No planes will land at the airport, Shohei Kagawa, a spokesman, said by telephone. It has yet been decided what services will operate tomorrow, he said. There was no visible damage to runways, Ryoko Yabe, a spokeswoman, said earlier.
Tokyo’s Haneda airport, Asia’s second-busiest by passengers, resumed flights after an initial shutdown following the 2:46 p.m. earthquake, the nation’s biggest in at least a century. Japan Airlines Corp. and All Nippon Airways Co. canceled at least 292 flights nationwide, affecting more than 60,000 travelers, following the magnitude 8.9 quake, which also forced the suspension of Tokyo subway and bullet-train services.
“It is likely that flights to Japan may continue to be affected in the coming days,” Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. said in an e-mailed statement. The carrier advised passengers to check its website before traveling.
China Southern Airlines Co., the nation’s largest carrier, canceled four Tokyo flights for tomorrow and halted ticket sales for services on March 13, it said in an e-mailed statement.
British Airways canceled its Narita and Haneda flights today and the return legs tomorrow, Cathy West, a spokeswoman, said by phone. Air France-KLM (AF) Group diverted a flight to Osaka and delayed takeoff for another in Paris by four and half hours, it said by e-mail.
Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN)’s Jetstar budget unit diverted two Tokyo-bound flights to Guam and Malaysian Airline System Bhd. (MAS) sent one to Taipei.
To contact the reporters on this story: Chris Cooper in Tokyo at ccooper1@bloomberg.net; Kiyotaka Matsuda in Tokyo at kmatsuda@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Neil Denslow at ndenslow@bloomberg.net
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