At least two US airlines have held flights from the US mainland to the Hawaiian Islands in response to a tsunami warning caused by a megakoki off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia.
Seattle-based Alaska Airlines Group says it is a “flight operations assessment” to monitor tsunami warnings on the evening of July 29 local time on Hawaii, parts of Alaska, and the US West Coast. In response, the company has suspended flights to Hawaii on both Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines.
“We were monitoring the airport situation at government agencies and were able to see the operational impact,” the company adds. “The exemption is now in place and guests can now coordinate their travel plans.”
Flight tracking data shows that some cargo and passenger flights have retreated back through the US mainland, but it is unknown that they are affected by the flight.
The tsunami is expected to arrive on the west coast of Oahu after 7pm local time.
The earthquake has brought tsunami warnings in Japan, with cities along the Pacific coast receiving 3m high warnings about tsunami waves. It also led to the runway closure at Sendai Airport, located near Japan's Pacific coast.
At about 10:15 local time, the airport operator said:
Japanese airlines such as Japan Airlines and all Japan Airlines have cancelled all flights to and from Sendai as a result of the tsunami warning. According to airport information, international operators such as HK Express and EVA Air also suspended Sundai flights on July 30th.
Additional reports by Alfred Chur.
