(Photo: Jetstar Pacific) Hanoi (VNA) – Low-cost airline Jetstar Pacific announced on September 6 that it will cancel four additional flights to Japan on September 7 and 8 due to the super Typhoon Jebi, which is ravaging Japan and has forced Kansai International Airport in the west to close for repair.
The cancelled flights are BL164 from Da Nang to Osaka and BL621 from Osaka to Hanoi on September 7; as well as BL620 from Hanoi to Osaka and BL165 from Osaka to Da Nang on September 8.
Earlier, on September 5, Jetstar Pacific had announced that it would suspend all services to/from Osaka until the end of September 6. The budget airline will continue to cancel these four flights – namely BL620 and BL621 between Hanoi and Osaka, and BL164 and BL165 connecting Da Nang and Osaka on September 5-6.
Passengers can keep track of updates or seek support via Jetstar Pacific’s hotline 19001550.
Vietnam Airlines has also announced that it will cancel four more flights (VN330, VN331, VND320, and VN321) from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Osaka and vice versa.
The carrier has cancelled a total of 12 flights so far since September 4 due to the temporary shutdown of the Osaka-based airport.
The airport, one of Japan's transport hubs, is a key gateway to the Kansai region (which includes the prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo) and has seen growing numbers of foreign travelers from Asia in recent months.
Over 200 flights were canceled on September 5 due to the airport closure, affecting over 30,000 people.
All Nippon Airways Co. has stopped selling tickets for flights to/from the Kansai airport until next Tuesday and Japan Airlines Co. has decided to add extra flights via another transport hub, Narita airport near Tokyo.
On a typical day, around 80,000 travelers use the Kansai airport – which is rising with the growing travel demand from foreign travelers flying budget airlines.
At one point on September 5, more than 5,000 people were stranded after a tanker smashed into a bridge linking the airport and the mainland of Osaka Prefecture. Many of them were transported away from the airport by high-speed boats.
Domestic flights at the typhoon-damaged Kansai International Airport in western Japan will resume Friday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on September 6.
International flights will also restart as soon as the airport in Osaka is ready, Abe told a meeting held at his office. The previous day, airport officials had said that it may take about a week to fully reopen the airport if there is serious damage to its runways and facilities.
Jebi is the strongest storm to hit Japan in 25 years after a super typhoon attacked the country in 1993 and left 48 people dead and missing. It landed in Japan on September 4 and caused serious flooding in Kansai airport.–VNA
VNA
