NARITA, JAPAN - HEAVY rain put a damper on celebrations for the 30th anniversary of Tokyo's main international airport on Tuesday, delaying the Airbus A380 superjumbo's first commercial flight to Japan.

A typhoon churning in the Pacific near Japan brought strong winds and downpours, forcing the world's biggest jetliner - operated by Singapore Airlines - to land at an airport near the central Japanese city of Nagoya instead, the airline said.

The unexpected delay came as Narita Airport president Kosaburo Morinaka and other officials were waiting here to welcome the double-decker plane, whose arrival was scheduled to coincide with the anniversary celebrations.

'We cancelled a welcoming ceremony. It would have been better if the plane had arrived as scheduled but it could not be helped for safety reasons,' Narita spokeswoman Naomi Kojima said.

Other events, including a ceremony with Buddhist monks to pray for safe operations, went ahead as planned.

The A380 arrived at Narita hours late with Singapore Airline chief executive Chew Choon Seng on board.

The Narita Airport president joined a ceremony hosted by the Singapore flag carrier before the superjumbo headed back to Singapore on Tuesday afternoon, departing one and a half hours late.

Thirty years after Narita opened, the government has failed to receive full public support to finish and expand the airport.

When the authorities first began trying to buy up land to build Narita, many farmers physically fought back in a movement that was later joined by leftist students and activists staging violent protests.

Police officers died in the clashes, and farmers and activists were arrested for using improvised bombs and destroying airport facilities.

Today more than 35 million people use the airport annually, and it faces constant pressure from airlines to increase its capacity, even though it is an hour from Tokyo by express train, inconveniencing users.

Narita airport accepts about 200,000 arriving and departing flights a year, or about 550 every day. Officials hope to increase it to 300,000 per annum.

Narita faces competition from not only other Asian hubs but also Haneda airport in Tokyo, which mostly handles domestic flights and some short-distance services to other Asian cities.

Transport Minister Tetsuzo Fuyushiba suggested on Tuesday that night flights to Europe could leave from Haneda at some point in the future. -- AFP