Sendai Airport reopened fully on Sunday with the resumption of scheduled international flights, marking its recovery from the devastating March earthquake and tsunami.
"I hope this will activate the exchange of people and goods and help rebuild the entire Tohoku region," Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai said at a ceremony at the airport, which took heavy tsunami damage that submerged its runways and left them littered with cars and other debris.
Asiana Airlines' flights to Seoul in the early afternoon were fully booked, although they will run only three days a week for the time being as compared with daily before the catastrophe.
Yoon Young Doo, president of the South Korean airline, said at Sunday's ceremony that Asiana wants to resume daily flights as soon as possible. Doo was aboard the first regular international flight to land at Sendai Airport after the disasters.
Scheduled international flights serving four other routes will resume sometime between October and March, including Continental Airlines flights to Guam.
The terminal building also marked the occasion by reopening restaurants and a waiting room that were closed for repairs.
A 60-year-old housewife from Sendai said before her flight to Seoul that she booked it to see the rebuilding effort in person.
"It makes me emotional to picture the situation right after the disaster," she said.
