"Japanese Govt To Raise Rents At 26 Airports From FY04"

Saturday, September 6, 2003

Govt To Raise Rents At 26 Airports From FY04
Japan - Nihon Keizai Shimbun


TOKYO (Nikkei)--The government has decided to raise the rents on companies
operating 26 state-run airports, including Tokyo's Haneda and Osaka's Itami,
from fiscal 2004, government sources said. 

Specifically, the government plans new levies on the use of parking spaces
and sales at stores inside airport buildings, intending to collect an
additional several billion yen from the private businesses operating the
airports. 

The government believes the current system, which lowers rents in line with
falling land prices, excessively benefits the firms considering that they
enjoy a virtual monopoly on business activities at airports. 

At Tokyo International Airport at Haneda, for example, rents plummeted by
some 60% between fiscal 1994 and 2002, even though sales by the private firm
operating the facility rose. 

The government also notes that the pretax profit margin for the 26 private
companies that operate the airports stands at 7.9%, while the average figure
for listed real estate and retail firms is only 5.0%.


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