Iwakuni Kintaikyo Airport, a joint civilian and US military facility in Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, experienced a temporary runway closure due to multiple drone sightings.
This incident, which took place the evening of 22 December, resulted in a significant delay for an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight inbound to the airport.
According to reports from local news source NHK, the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism notified ANA of the disruption. The Ministry relayed the message to the airline around 7:00 PM local time on 22 December.
It advised of multiple drone incursions reported at Iwakuni Kintaikyo Airport, rendering the runway temporarily unusable.
As a result, the inbound ANA flight from Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) was unable to land at Iwakuni. After circling overhead for a period, the aircraft subsequently diverted to Hiroshima Airport for refueling.
Runway operations resumed shortly after 8:00 PM, allowing the flight to proceed to Iwakuni Kintaikyo Airport. However, the delay amounted to approximately three hours.
This disruption also impacted the return flight to Haneda, causing a similar delay. In total, approximately 250 passengers were affected by these flight disruptions.
