2 JAL flights from Europe arrive at Narita with 500 on board+

NARITA, Japan, April 20 Kyodo -
Two Japan Airlines flights from Moscow and Rome arrived Tuesday at Narita
airport outside Tokyo carrying a total of some 500 travelers, including those
stranded in Europe due to a massive grounding of flights caused by a volcanic
eruption in Iceland.
JAL Flight 442, a Boeing 777, from Moscow arrived at Narita International
Airport at around 8:30 a.m. with some 180 passengers on board, becoming the
first flight to be operated by a Japanese airline to and from Europe since last
Thursday. JAL said the plane took a detour to avoid volcanic ash on the flight
course.
A JAL flight from Rome also arrived at Narita airport shortly before noon. JAL
Flight 8400 left Rome in the early hours of Tuesday (Japan time) after Rome
airport was reopened for air traffic.
JAL said it sent a Boeing 747 jumbo jet on standby in New York to Rome to carry
some 320 travelers to operate an extra flight to Japan. JAL Flight 8400 from
Rome was fully packed.
Meanwhile, European Union transport ministers have agreed to resume airline
traffic in a designated zone where the threat of volcanic ash flowing from
Iceland over Europe is considered less dangerous.
Flight services to and from Europe could be normalized as early as Thursday if
things go smoothly, airline industry sources said.
The fresh development paves the way for Japanese and European air carriers to
resume flight services to Europe from Japan, Narita airport officials said.
Swiss International Air Lines resumed flight service to Zurich from Narita
airport. JAL is considering operating a flight to Rome later Tuesday.
Japanese and foreign air carriers canceled at least 41 flights on Japan-Europe
routes leaving or arriving at Japan's three major international airports --
Narita, Kansai near Osaka and Chubu outside Nagoya -- on Tuesday.
Two major Japanese carriers, JAL and All Nippon Airways, have already decided
to cancel a total of 14 flights to and from London, Paris, Amsterdam and
Frankfurt on Tuesday.
Germany's Lufthansa resumed flight service to Frankfurt from Chubu airport for
the first time in four days. Lufthansa's Flight 737 left Chubu airport at 9:20
a.m. for Frankfurt.
Meanwhile, among the 180 passengers who flew back to Narita airport aboard the
JAL flight from Moscow was a 34-year-old expatriate in Moscow.
After arriving at Narita, Jun Kato, an automaker's resident officer in the
Russian capital, told reporters that his return to Japan for holidays was two
days behind schedule due to the flight grounding.
Kato said he is happy to be able to come back. ''I'd like to play with my kids
at home.''
Another returnee, a 36-year-old businessman, said his return was also two days
behind schedule. Hiroyuki Takeda said he will go to his office in central Tokyo
directly from the airport.
Juan Antonio, 40, a Spanish police officer who has been stranded in Japan after
a weeklong tour, said he has secured a seat on a Swiss International Air Lines
flight bound for Zurich.
He said he is happy but is still worried about the flight from Zurich to
Barcelona. He said he is considering renting a car.
==Kyodo
2010-04-20 23:34:18


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