The roar of jet engines christened the new 2,500-meter runway at Haneda airport in Tokyo's Ota Ward on Thursday as an All Nippon Airways plane took off on a ceremonial flight to Wakkanai, on the northernmost tip of Hokkaido.

The opening of the new B Runway, 380 meters from the old one, capped a construction project that began in 1984 to move the airport's three runways closer to Tokyo Bay to reduce noise pollution. Two other 3,000-meter runways have already been moved.

The B Runway will be mainly used when crosswinds on the other two runways are too strong, airport officials said.