No one is more baffled by the Ministry of Transport's plans for a third Tokyo airport than local government and civic leaders. Not that they oppose another airport, but they are wondering whether the MOT has levelled with them, or if it is incapable of following a coherent airport strategy.
Until last year the Tokyo city government and chamber of commerce were both developing plans to lobby for the opening of the purely domestic Haneda airport to international flights.
With neighbouring farmers blocking the expansion at Narita, business and local government leaders felt some of the new slots that would become available with the planned expansion of Haneda should be dedicated to international flights. Both Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways have argued for years that each airport should handle a mix of domestic and overseas traffic.
But the Tokyo city government and chamber of commerce decided not to advocate international flights at Haneda as a result of quiet but intense lobbying from the MOT. It persuaded them to reverse course by arguing that their calls to internationalise Haneda would undermine the campaign to persuade Narita's farmers to sell their land for a second runway. The MOT was trying to convince the farmers that Tokyo's international reputation would suffer without the expansion.
Yet the MOT's latest five year plan calls for a third Tokyo airport at a site to be selected. Early plans indicate it will handle both domestic and overseas flights, which leaves local leaders puzzling over what the MOT will tell the farmers now.
David Knibb
Source: Airline Business
