Japan's Kansai airport to reopen partially after typhoon damage

Kansai International, which was shut down after Typhoon Jebi flooded the facility, will reopen partially Friday, helping airlines to gradually resume services. Japan’s third-largest airport by traffic numbers will open 1 terminal and ANA’s Peach will be the first to start flights, Yoshiyuki Yamatani, president of the airport operator, said Thursday. The Kansai airport is the gateway to the Osaka region and only lags behind the Haneda and Narita facilities that serve Tokyo. The airport--on an artificial island in Osaka Bay--was almost directly in the typhoon’s path. and was forced to close after its runways were flooded and a tanker smashed into the road and rail bridge linking the airport to the mainland. Yamatani also said the restoration of runway A and the damaged bridge are the main factors delaying the resumption of international flights <br/>