JAPAN'S MINISTRY OF Transport is to launch a study into building a third new airport for Tokyo, as part of a long-term plan to relieve congestion at the Narita and Haneda airports.
The feasibility study is contained in the ministry's next five-year plan for airport development between 1996 and the year 2000. The Government reportedly wants to begin construction by early 2001.
Because of the proximity of Tokyo's suburbs and the scarcity of land, the airport is most likely be located on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay.
Japanese airlines have been pressing the Government for years to build a new airport to serve Tokyo. Haneda and Narita International Airports handle 43 million and nearly 24 million passengers a year, respectively, and are both near to saturation.
About '1 trillion ($11 billion)-worth of improvements and expansion are included in the ministry's five-year plan for Narita and Haneda through to 2000. In the long term, however, these are not expected to keep pace with traffic growth.
Narita has a requirement for a second runway, but construction has been held up by local farmers' refusal to sell land. Progress has been made recently, and a final settlement is expected soon. A second runway will increase its maximum capacity to 220,000 aircraft movements a year from the current 120,000, and increase passenger capacity to 38 million a year.
At Haneda, work to relocate an existing third runway offshore will boost annual capacity from 198,000 to 230,000 movements by 1999.
A third passenger terminal on the eastside is also planned, increasing capacity to 58 million passengers annually.
Source: Flight International
