Pago Pago International Airport in American Samoa, which has been closed since June 24 because of its deteriorating asphalt runway, was certified to resume flight operations yesterday by the Federal Aviation Administration.

FAA approval clears the way for possibly hundreds of stranded passengers to return home from Honolulu. But it was unclear last night when Hawaiian Airlines, the only airline that flies nonstop from Honolulu to Pago Pago, would resume service.

Passengers departing to Pago Pago on tomorrow's 4:30 p.m. flight will be checked in at Lobby 4 in the main terminal , at counters otherwise used by Air Canada. Only passengers holding confirmed reservations will be accommodated on the departure day, said airline spokesman Keoni Wagner.

The Hawaiian reservations department is calling passengers who held seats on cancelled flights, starting with those who have been waiting the longest, Wagner said. Hawaiian Flight 465 departs Honolulu at 4:45 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays; an additional flight is set for Sunday. About 100 seats remain open for the stranded passengers on the first few flights, he said; Sunday's new flight will accommodate 252 passengers.

Hawaiian halted flights to Pago Pago after two of its aircraft were damaged using the runway, one on June 10 from the loose asphalt, and a second plane June 23, resulting in a 17-hour delay and $400,000 in repairs, FAA spokeswoman Tweet Coleman said.

An FAA certification inspector and FAA project engineer who looked at the runway last week "found it not up to standards," Coleman said. Repairs were made, and FAA approved the runway yesterday.

Hawaiian normally flies to Pago Pago on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. Once they get official clearance, Hawaiian officials will add one or two flights per week "until we clear the backlog of travelers," Wag ner said.

Hawaiian officials have not yet calculated how much the runway closure cost the airline, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. And they do not know how many passengers booked flights to Pago Pago on other airlines, via Apia, Samoa, and will take advantage of Hawaiian's offer of ticket refunds, Wagner said.

William Reardon, his wife, Soa, and their 12-year-old daughter, Taimane, have been staying at the Pagoda Hotel for nearly two weeks, waiting for the runway to be cleared.

Reardon, a lawyer, missed an important court date and meetings with clients, he said.

"Honolulu's a nice place if you're going to be stuck someplace and you have credit cards," Reardon said. "It's a nice place, but the office isn't covered, and I have business to do back home."

Louie Denolfo, who lives in Pago Pago Village, has been staying with friends in Punalu'u since he was stranded after a two-week trip to the Mainland.

He misses his 14-year-old son and wife back home, and unlike Reardon is short on cash.

"I was doing the whole thing on a shoestring anyway," he said. "Now I'm running out of money."

Advertiser staff writer Vicki Viotti contributed to this report.