The expansion of an airport is vital for strengthening urban functions. To also smoothly accommodate the rapidly increasing flow of foreign visitors to Japan, measures that take an integrated view of airports in the Tokyo metropolitan area are needed to improve these facilities' convenience.
The takeoff and landing slots for airplanes at Narita Airport are expected to increase from the present 300,000 a year to 500,000.
In addition to the existing Runways A and B, a third "Runway C" will be newly built and Runway B will be extended. The airport's operating hours will be extended from the current 17 hours a day to 19.5 hours. The airport aims at implementing these plans 10 years from now.
Agreements have been reached among the central government, the Chiba prefectural government and neighboring municipalities of the airport, and Narita International Airport Corp.
With regards to Haneda Airport, the government has a plan to establish new flight routes over central Tokyo, and increase the departure and landing slots to 490,000 a year, up by 40,000.
If realized, the combined departure and landing slots of the two airports would approach a total of 1 million, making them one of the largest airport groups in the world.
The government has set an objective of seeing the number of foreign visitors to Japan increase from the present 28 million a year to 40 million by 2020. Should this pace of increase continue, the number of flights coming into the two airports is anticipated to reach their limit sometime in the 2020s.
A large expansion in the capacity of takeoff and landing slots is a route that cannot be avoided.
Divide airports' roles
As the circumstances of their location differ, the division of roles between the two airports is extremely important.
Being located close to the city center, Haneda Airport is prioritizing, within a limited amount of flight increases, the improvement of its international flights to destinations in Europe and North America, whose demand runs high among companies.
Narita Airport, capable of expanding its runways, is trying to attract low-cost carriers and make itself an international transit hub linking other Asian countries and the United States.
If the two airports deepen their cooperation further, they would also contribute to such tasks as diversifying the locations that foreign travelers visit in Japan.
Major airports in other Asian countries, including China and South Korea, are far ahead of those in Japan in offering services to foreign airlines and passengers flying into their airports.
The fees that airlines pay to Narita and Haneda airports are known to be comparatively high. This is due to increased expenses such as the acquisition cost of land. Enhancing the earning power of the airport terminal buildings through the expansion of retail shops there will be key.
By cooperating with railway operators and bus companies, Narita Airport also needs to tackle the improvement of its connections to the city center in the future.
Many residents in areas around the two airports have continuously expressed concern over noise problems that may arise with the anticipated increases in flights. The government and airport operators should give sufficient consideration to the soundproofing of housing and other buildings.
There are also concerns about objects falling from aircraft. In March, part of an aircraft was found lying in a mountain forest in Narita, Chiba Prefecture. Concern is increasing in communities around Haneda Airport, which plans to establish new flight routes. It is a matter of course for airport companies to adopt carefully thought-out measures to prevent objects from falling from aircraft.
Multifaceted efforts are necessary to coexist with local communities, such as having the increase in airport users lead to the creation of local jobs.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 2, 2018)
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