EDITORIAL: Excess Kansai airports

In reviewing budget requests for next fiscal year to identify wasteful expenditures, the Government Revitalization Unit raised the issue of the excessive airport capacity in the Kansai region, where three major airports--Kansai, Osaka (Itami) and Kobe--are within a 20-kilometer radius.

No solution to the problem is in sight.

Many taxpayers must be in support of the budget examiners' decision to freeze government subsidies for Kansai International Airport until a solution is worked out.

It is hardly surprising that the panel called into question the viability of the situation where the three airports are locked in mutually damaging competition.

Kansai, which has two runways available for service around the clock, is operating at only half of its capacity. Kansai International Airport Co., which operates the airport, is saddled with 1.1 trillion yen of interest-bearing debt. The government has been supplying subsidies to keep the debt-heavy company afloat since fiscal 2003.

After some twists and turns, the government decided to provide 7.5 billion yen of subsidies to the company next fiscal year, less than half of the budget request. But continuing efforts to treat the symptoms without tackling the problem of excessive capacity won't offer a permanent remedy.

A discussion group on the issue comprising local business leaders and local government chiefs has proposed to let the Kansai airport company operate all three airports under integrated management. But it is hard to imagine how this approach will create new demand in the region.

In fact, local communities are divided over what should be done.

Osaka Governor Toru Hashimoto is calling for scrapping Itami to make Kansai the region's hub of international air traffic.

But Kansai is not very popular among consumers because it is located far from the city center. Obviously, a way must be found for easier access to the airport.

Hashimoto says he would seek to close Itami in 10 to 15 years after crafting a plan to sort out the accessibility problem.

Meanwhile, a group of mayors in areas around Itami, along with Hyogo Governor Toshizo Ido, insist on keeping Itami alive, arguing the airport is more convenient for users.

Users and airlines probably share this view.

What is needed in plotting and pondering the future of the three airports is a strategy based on a big vision.

The government's policy initiative to promote tourism as the nation's key industry may serve as a basis for debate on the fate of these airports. It is possible to stoke demand for airline services based in the Kansai region, which is blessed by huge reserves of historic sites, by positioning Kansai airport as the regional hub for international air traffic.

The government has indicated its intention to turn Tokyo's Haneda Airport into an international air transportation hub. The government's plan to promote tourism as a key industry argues for creating another such hub in the western Kansai region.

From the viewpoint of using growth industries to expand the regional economy, it is important to make Kansai airport, which is open around the clock and has the capacity to deal with increased demand, a center of international air cargo transportation.

It would make better economic sense to shut down Itami and concentrate limited resources and funds on Kansai.

Kansai airport was planned and built mainly to solve the noise problem in residential areas around Itami. Although the noise level has dropped thanks to progress in aircraft technology, the government still spends 5 billion yen annually on environmental measures for Itami.

There are also safety concerns due to the airport's location in the middle of a densely populated residential area. In other words, the land that is currently the site of the airport would offer great business prospects.

Transport minister Seiji Maehara has expressed his wish to maintain Itami's operations while limiting them to services for smaller aircraft.

Such a plan for downsizing the airport's operations, however, should envision the eventual closure of Itami.

The government should now lay out a convincing vision for the future of the three airports based on reliable demand forecasts.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 12