Typhoon Trami closes Kansai Airport

Tokyo

TYPHOON Trami lashed south-west Japan on Sunday, causing power cuts at nearly 400,000 buildings and triggering flight cancellations, including flights to and from Singapore.

Kansai International Airport, which serves the greater Osaka area in western Japan, closed two runways from 11am on Sunday till 6am on Monday to prepare for the possible impact of Trami, according to a statement on its website.

In an updated travel advisory late on Saturday, Singapore Airlines (SIA) said that flights from Changi Airport to Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo have been affected. At least two of them have been delayed by about 10 hours.

Budget carrier Scoot rescheduled its flights on Sunday between Singapore and Osaka. These include flights that have a stopover in Bangkok.

Typhoon Trami may approach central Japan later on Sunday, affecting Tokyo into Monday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMH).

Trami, the 24th typhoon of the season, swept the southern islands of Okinawa and Kyushu on Sunday morning, with winds gusts of up to 222 kmh, according to the JMA.

The tropical cyclone is classified as a "very strong" typhoon, the second-highest on the JMA scale.

About 195,000 sites had power outages as at 11 am on Sunday in the southern Kyushu region according to Kyushu Electric Power Co, while over 200,000 homes and offices lost power in the Okinawa area as at 10 am according to Okinawa Electric Power Co.

There have been over 900 flight cancellations announced by various airlines on Sunday, affecting over 70,000 passengers, Kyodo reported.

The bullet train service between Kumamoto and central Kagoshima was also halted, according to the Kyushu Railway Co. BLOOMBERG