Runways at three-quarters of the airports in Japan, including its busiest gateways, Narita and Haneda, do not meet safety standards for preventing severe overrun accidents, the transport ministry says.
The "runway end safety area" should extend at least 90 meters from the end of a runway strip, but 73 of the 97 airports nationwide fail to meet this requirement, the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry said Friday.
Last week, an All Nippon Airways plane skidded off the runway after landing at New Chitose Airport near Sapporo. No one was injured and the plane avoided serious damage after plowing into snow in the safety area, indicating it was sufficient to mitigate the slip.