Minor delays are expected for some 60 international flights departing Japan at the end of the year due to crisis management measures to deal with the Year 2000 computer problem, Transport Ministry officials said Friday.
A contingency plan to ease possible disruptions caused by the Y2K problem, created by the ministry for submission to the International Civil Aviation Organization, calls for allotting more time between takeoffs on congested routes to such destinations as the United States.
This measure may cause delays of 10 minutes to an hour on flights departing on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, the officials said.
The ministry plans to conduct air traffic control as usual for non-congested international routes, which are unlikely to be affected by the Y2K problem, they said.
The Y2K problem may affect older computers that recognize years only by their last two digits, causing them to mistake 2000 as 1900.