Japan Eyes System for Faster Repairs of Disaster-Hit Airports

   Tokyo, Feb. 17 (Jiji Press)--Japan plans to establish a system allowing the central government to promptly repair locally managed airports damaged by disasters, in place of local governments.
   The system, expected to cover about 60 airports, is based on lessons from the delayed resumption of an airport in the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan, that was struck by a powerful earthquake Jan. 1, 2024.
   The transport ministry plans to introduce a revision to the airport law to create the system during the current session of the Diet, the country's parliament, ending in June, informed sources said.
   Noto Airport in Wajima, an area severely damaged by the quake, reopened for commercial flights Jan. 27, 2024, after emergency repairs by the prefectural government.
   Under the law for recovery from large-scale disasters, Japan has a system allowing the central government to repair locally managed airports on behalf of local governments if disasters that damaged them are officially designated as extraordinary.

(2025/02/17-18:54)

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