## (2) International Airlines

## 1 ) Current situations and issues

Being affected by the global business recession, the economic outlook of the airline industry became unforeseeable after 2008. There were movements, such as the reduction in routes/service frequency and the cost cutting of headcount/equipment, taken by airline enterprises in all countries, including Japan.

The expansion of the international airline network is indispensable because the international air transportation of our country is shouldering most of the international tourists and the importance of air transportation for international freight is increasing. Therefore, promotion is being planned much more firmly than in the past through the development of international airports and the conclusion of new air arrangements.

## 2 ) Open Skies

Open Skies that eliminate the limitations related to routes and service frequency was formed with Canada, the United States and Sri Lanka in April 2009, December 2009 and March 2010 respectively, for the airline enterprises to take appropriate actions responding to the demand trend and to add new routes or increase service frequency by flexible business decisions. Until now, Japan has negotiated Open Skies with 10 countries/regions. From now on, countries/regions will continue close negotiations in order to set the framework as flexibly as possible.

## (3) Extension of the international airline functionality of the airports in the metropolitan area (Narita/Haneda)

In 2010, the realization of increasing the total number of international regular flights to 80,000 (60,000 flights for Haneda, 30,000 in the afternoon and 30,000 at night; 20,000 flights for Narita) and an increase, to a great extent, in the international arrival/departure frequency of the airports in metropolitan area is being aimed at.

Up to now, Haneda Airport has come to an agreement for the establishment of international regular flights with a total of 12 countries/regions. These are day flights between Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan and overnight flights between Asia (Korea, Hong Kong, Thai, Malaysia and Singapore) and Europe (Germany, Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom). Also, there are flights already taking the lead in international regular flight services. These are day charter flights for international tourists between Gimpo International Airport in Seoul (started in 2003), Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (started in 2007) and Beijing Capital International Airport. The daily flight frequency is 8, 4 and 4 respectively.

Narita Airport has also agreed to transportability expansion between 22 countries/regions overall, including Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, India, Sri Lanka, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey in Asia; Papua New Guinea in Oceania; Egypt in Africa; Poland, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, Scandinavia and Finland in Europe.

In the future, at the same time as working on changing Haneda Airport to a 24-hour airport and further expanding the capacity of Narita Airport, the integrated utilization of the two airports will be pushed forward, in order to realize the maximization of the international airline functionality of the airports in the Metropolitan area.

## (4) Enhancement and efficiency improvement of airport management

As the focus of airport policy shifts from development to management, the “Airport Act” aims to further enhance and improve the efficiency of airport management so that existing resources are utilized and the quality and convenience of airports will be enhanced. For these purposes, the Act established a mechanism to ensure appropriate airport terminal management and developed frameworks for coordination among stakeholders for active cooperation.

## (5) Current status of airport development

## 1 ) Development of Tokyo International (Haneda) Airport

### A. Current Status

Tokyo International (Haneda) Airport has formed a network with 49 airports in the country and the daily number of flights is 420. There are 60 million people using domestic airlines yearly (the result of regular flights in FY 2008).

Although the airport’s limit for arrival and departure has been expanding from development projects until now, it is already reaching the limit of its capacity. In the future, there is a foreseeable further increase in the demand for domestic and international airlines and the integrated utilization of Narita International Airport, as an airport in the metropolitan area, is being requested.