Terminal 2 at Narita Airport (Photo: (WT-shared) Tatata at wts wikivoyage [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)])
Tokyo’s Narita Airport has made another step closer to expansion; the airport proposed to build a third runway next year and the government is expected to hold a public hearing in December.
Narita Airport is the second busiest airport in the country which handled 42 million passengers last year, it mainly provides international routes which connect more than 140 cities.
The new runway may increase the annual number of airport slots from the current 300,000 to 500,000. The construction is expected to be completed by 2030. Narita Airport owns two runways currently,
In response to public demand, the airport will enhance services gradually as well. From the winter of 2019, aircraft will be allowed to take-off and land after 11:00 p.m. and the restriction on the number of flights during evening hours will be increased.
Earlier, Chinese and Japanese Government have reached an agreement which allowed more frequencies between Narita Airport, Beijing and Shanghai. Koichi Okawara, Executive Director of Narita International Airport Corp. said “We have been getting a lot of inquiries from Chinese airlines, and we are hoping to see a significant boost in the number of flights from the winter schedule.”
Chinese airlines stand to benefit from the new policy. Hainan Airlines will start a new service to Beijing Capital Airport, Spring Airlines and China Southern Airlines will launch Narita- Shanghai services.
According to Okawara, Narita Airport has the potential for new flights beyond 2020. In fact, Japan Airlines announced new services to San Francisco, Vladivostok, Russia, Bengaluru, India and Guam will be launched next year.
In addition, the airport will launch “One ID smart biometric identification” in spring, which allows passengers document-free boarding and shopping, Narita is the first airport to use this new system in the country.
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