"Japan Government To Approve New Runway At Kansai Airport -Kyodo"

Sunday, December 5, 2004

Japan Government To Approve New Runway At Kansai Airport -Kyodo


TOKYO -(Dow Jones)- The Japanese government will give the green light to
construct a second runway at Kansai International Airport and it will be
made operational in 2007, Kyodo News reported Monday, citing government
sources.

The government is in the final stages of allocating part of the expenses
needed for the construction in the budget for fiscal 2005, which begins
April 1, the sources told Kyodo.

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki and transport minister Kazuo Kitagawa are
expected to agree on the budgetary allocation before the Finance Ministry
compiles a draft budget, they said.

The government has become more supportive of the plan to build the new
runway after the international airport in Osaka Prefecture reported a profit
in the April-September period this year for the first time since it opened
10 years ago, the sources said.

The sources said the government also welcomes a plan by the Osaka
prefectural government and other local authorities to compile a Y500 million
package to attract more people to the international airport.

However, an issue over whether to downgrade the status of nearby Osaka
airport, which straddles the cities of Itami and Toyonaka, needs to be
resolved before the government approves the construction of the new runway.

The Finance Ministry wants to downgrade the airport, but the local
prefectural government and 11 municipalities surrounding the complex are
opposed to the proposal as they will receive fewer state subsidies.

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry, which seeks Y20 billion in
the state's budget for the next fiscal year, will try to reach a compromise
before getting approval for the funds from the Finance Ministry, transport
ministry officials said.


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