=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/n/a/2006/02/15/financial/= f215247S16.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, February 15, 2006 (AP) Japan Opens 97th Airport in Kobe (02-15) 21:52 PST TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Japan opened its 97th airport on Thursday in the city of Kobe, which was devastated by an earthquake more than a decade ago. Japan's three air carriers — Japan Airlines Co., All Nippon Airways Co. and Skymark Airlines — will operate 54 flights daily from the $2.66 billion airport. Initially, it will be used only for domestic flights, Kobe city spokesman Tomonari Furuta said. The new airport in Kobe, a major port city 270 miles west of Tokyo, took six years to build and has a single 8,250-foot runway. In 1995, a magnitude-7.2 earthquake killed more than 6,000 people in Kob= e. Following the quake, many people left Kobe to live elsewhere in Japan. However, the city continues to recover and its population of 1.52 million is now slightly above the number of residents just before the disaster. City officials said they expect 3.19 million travelers to use the new airport in the first year. ------------------------------------------------= ---------------------- Copyright 2006 AP