RENEE MONTAGNE, host: NPR's business news starts with signs of recovery in Japan.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: A key Japanese airport resumed commercial flights today. The Sendai Airport is the biggest along the country's devastated northeast coast. It was badly damaged by the tsunami that piled cars and trees and even houses onto the runways. Japanese and American soldiers helped to clear the debris and flights now going in and out should mean that reconstruction in the region will speed up.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Still, today was just a partial reopening. A full restoration of the airport will take at least a year.
The Sendai Airport is the biggest along Japan's devastated northeast coast. It was badly damaged by the tsunami that piled cars, trees and even houses onto the runways. Japanese and American soldiers helped to clear the debris.