（゜Д゜;）英字新聞
Narita, Haneda airports should work as team
Narita Airport, which has been the nation's gateway for air travelers, marked its 30th anniversary Tuesday.
Since it began operating, the number of flights arriving at and departing from the airport has increased threefold and the number of passengers passing through the airport has quadrupled. Narita has grown into a gigantic airport that is the sixth-largest in the world, and the second-largest in Asia after Hong Kong International Airport.
Narita cannot afford to rest on its laurels. Expansion projects are planned or under way at international airports in China, South Korea and Singapore, among other countries, as they seek to dethrone Narita as the aviation hub for Asia.
Narita has traditionally been the port of call for international flights while Haneda Airport has handled domestic services. This division of duties has outlived its usefulness: Narita should join hands with Haneda, which also is in the metropolitan area, so it can hold its own against the huge airports in other nations.
Narita Airport's history has been riddled with difficulties. Since the decision to construct an airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, was made in 1966, local landowners and others have sporadically protested against the airport's development. Plots of land totaling 3.4 hectares have yet to be bought up by the airport operator for further expansion and construction work because the owners have refused to sell. This has delayed construction work considerably. Noise problems caused by aircraft also have stiffened opposition to moves to greatly expand the airport.
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Thinking big
The number of flights arriving and departing the airport last year reached 194,000, almost full capacity. One of the airport's two runways is expected to be extended by 2010 to accommodate jumbo jets. But even this extended runway would only enable another 20,000 flight services per year.
Airports in China and Singapore already boast larger capacities than Narita. Given this, Narita might find itself reduced to merely being one of Asia's local airports.
Meanwhile, Haneda Airport's fourth runway is due to be completed in 2010. This would allow the airport to have 450,000 arrival and departure slots annually.
The Construction and Transport Ministry has proposed that the number of international flights at Haneda Airport be increased sixfold from the current level to 80 per day and that Narita and Haneda airports be operated in an integrated manner. The ministry also intends to allow flights bound for and from the United States and Europe to use Haneda late at night and during the early morning.
The ministry's proposals are quite reasonable. The ministry should review flight services in a flexible manner by giving consideration to such measures as diverting some domestic flights to Narita Airport.
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Staying ahead of the pack
Some Narita business leaders, however, are concerned that the airport might lose its status as the nation's aviation gateway.
Chartered flights connecting Haneda and South Korean and Chinese airports already operate regularly. If international flights at Haneda are limited to short-haul services for and from Asian nations and late night and early morning services bound for and from the United States and Europe, Haneda would not be stealing passengers and cargo from Narita. The two airports could quite conceivably coexist and prosper.
Integrated operations will require access between the airports to be improved and flight control systems to be reviewed.
Narita International Airport Corp., which operates Narita Airport, has estimated that flight services could be increased to 300,000 per year if taxiways and other facilities are improved. Steady efforts must be made to beef up Narita's capacity.
The corporation must be fully privatized before improvement work can proceed efficiently. However, the government in March shelved a plan to introduce restrictions on investment by foreign companies in airport management, and a plan to list the corporation on the stock market has been left hanging. The listing of the corporation should be quickly encouraged while some measures should be introduced to control foreign investment in the airport business.
