Tokyo: Tokyo’s Haneda Airport is expected to reopen a runway that has been closed since Tuesday’s aircraft collision as early as Monday, Japan’s transport ministry said Friday.

Full restoration of the airport’s Runway C will take around a month as some equipment still needs to be repaired, the ministry said.

Many flights, mainly domestic, have been canceled since the collision between a Japan Airlines passenger jet and a Japan Coast Guard plane left the runway closed.

“We are committed in our efforts to get (the runway) reopened,” transport minister Tetsuo Saito said.

On Friday, JAL started work to remove the wreck of the JAL plane that burst into flames shortly after the collision. The coast guard has already finished removing the remnants of its aircraft.

JIJI Press