The roar of jet engines christened the new 2,500-meter runway at Haneda airport in Tokyo's Ota Ward on Thursday as an All Nippon Airways plane took off on a ceremonial flight to Wakkanai, on the northernmost tip of Hokkaido.
The opening of the new B Runway, 380 meters from the old one, capped a construction project that began in 1984 to move the airport's three runways closer to Tokyo Bay to reduce noise pollution. Two other 3,000-meter runways have already been moved.
The B Runway will be mainly used when crosswinds on the other two runways are too strong, airport officials said.
With the long-awaited runway finally opened, government officials appear ready to beef up operations at the airport.
In July, 31 new flights will be added to operations at the airport, and another 26 are scheduled to join in July 2002.
Transport Minister Toshihiro Nikai recently launched a ministry panel to consider the possibility of allowing late-night and early-morning chartered international planes at Haneda, which is now mainly used for domestic flights.
Officials in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, have criticized the idea, maintaining that Narita airport should remain the capital's doorway to the world.
The new B Runway is the nation's first quake-proof runway. It can withstand a temblor as strong as the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, according to airport officials.
New airport opens
KUMAMOTO (Kyodo) Amakusa airport in the Amakusa Islands, Kumamoto Prefecture, officially opened Thursday with an inaugural flight departing for Fukuoka airport.
An opening ceremony took place at the new airport, which has a 1,000-meter runway and stretches from Hondo to the town of Itsuwa.
Hiroki Uozumi, president of Amakusa Airlines, promised to make his company "a comfortable and easy-to-use" carrier. The airline is partially funded by the Kumamoto Prefectural Government, which operates the airport.
Amakusa Airlines has three flights daily to and from Fukuoka and one flight to Kumamoto, which is 25 minutes by air but about two hours by bus or high-speed ferry.
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