Global Reaction

Airlines respond to disaster

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-16 08:41

China

Air China, the country's flagship carrier, said on Tuesday that the majority of its planes to Japan were on regular duty, in response to an earlier report saying the carrier was cutting back on flights because of safety concerns over the atomic emergency in Fukushima.

The carrier denied the report, saying it has only cancelled a few flights in consideration of the airport support capability in Japan.

China Southern Airlines told China Daily that the carrier's regular flights to Japan were not affected by the nuclear crisis.

However, the airliner's flights scheduled for later dates were still under discussion.

China Eastern Airlines, which handles the most flights from China to Japan, said all 50 daily flights between China and Japan operated by the airline will fly as scheduled, except for temporary cancellations of flights from Shanghai to Fukushima.

In Hong Kong, a Cathay Pacific spokesperson said: "We are monitoring the situation very carefully and so far there has been no authoritative suggestion that flight operations to Japan are likely to be affected. We will continue to comply fully with guidelines from relevant aviation authorities."

Malaysia

Malaysia's AirAsia, Asia's largest budget carrier by fleet size, and Malaysian Airline System, the country's national carrier, said they are flying to Tokyo without any disruptions. But they said they are monitoring the situation.

New Zealand

Air New Zealand flights to Tokyo are continuing on schedule but are being reviewed as new information becomes available.

The Philippines

Flights from Manila to Japan are scheduled to fly as normal. Cebu Pacific said normal operations continued, with no cancellations.

Singapore

Singapore Airlines said on its website that it is closely monitoring developments in Japan, but that at this point all its flights to and from Japan are operating as scheduled.

Thailand

Thai Airways International was still flying to Tokyo as of Tuesday morning, but senior executives were in a meeting and the situation could change.

United States

Two major US airlines with big trans-Pacific operations, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc, said that they were not canceling flights and that operations were continuing as normal.

Boeing Co said it had no plans to evacuate employees from Japan and expected no major impact on suppliers after Japan's earthquake.

Germany

The country's Lufthansa airline became the first major European carrier on Tuesday to announce that its daily flights to Tokyo will be diverted due to huge delays at the city's main international airport.

Competitors British Airways, Air France, Swiss and Alitalia said their flights to the Japanese capital were currently operating as scheduled.

China Daily-Reuters-AP