Haneda Closes One Runway Due to Flooding as Storms Pummel Eastern Japan
Japan Today | Apr. 08, 2008
On Apr. 8, one of the three runways at Haneda Airport in Tokyo was closed in the morning after some parts of the runway at the country's busiest airport became submerged due to stormy weather that mostly hit eastern and central Japan including the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, the nation's two biggest airlines, canceled more than 100 domestic flights, mostly serving Haneda, in the morning and early afternoon, affecting around 13,000 passengers, the airlines said. The runway was closed for around 30 minutes just past 8 a.m. and then closed again for nearly three hours from just before 10 a.m.
At least three spots on the runway were submerged under up to around 2 centimeters of water as rain outran the runway's drainage capacity, the transportation ministry and other sources said.
A powerful low-pressure front brought on violent winds and copious rain, causing havoc and disruptions to transportation services.