The president of the operator of Kansai International Airport said Thursday a runway at the main international gateway to western Japan, which was flooded in a powerful typhoon earlier this month, will reopen the next day.

The airport on a man-made island in Osaka Bay plans to resume 38 domestic and 98 international flights, equivalent to 34 percent of services prior to the disaster, the operator said.

Yoshiyuki Yamaya, president of Kansai Airports, announced the plan at a press conference Thursday evening.

As Typhoon Jebi passed through western Japan on Sept. 4, one of the airport's two runways and a terminal building were flooded by high tides, while a tanker ship smashed into the sole bridge connecting the airport with the mainland, severing half of its lanes and stranding an estimated 8,000 people at the airport at one point.

The airport operator said it aims to reopen the northern part of the flooded terminal building, where power has not been restored, by Sept. 21.

(Section of the damaged bridge lifted by a crane barge)

Railway services on the bridge will also likely resume on the same day if no significant damage is found, according to the rail operator.

The airport has partially reopened with flights at around 20 percent of the pre-typhoon level, as most airlines had been using the flooded No. 1 terminal.

Kansai airport has attracted a growing number of foreign passengers in recent years, particularly those from China, South Korea and Southeast Asian countries. It was used by around 80,000 passengers a day on average before the disaster.

Airports near typhoon-hit Kansai airport to increase flights

Typhoon-hit Kansai airport partially resumes int'l flights