Narita Airport is banking on an increase in takeoffs and landings to avoid falling into “oblivion,” but it faces a number of challenges regarding human resources, safety and noise pollution.

The yearly cap on arrivals and departures at Narita Airport, located in Chiba Prefecture just outside of Tokyo, will be raised from the current 300,000 to 340,000 in October to cater to growing flight demand to Japan.

The airport operator will also introduce a third runway in 2029 as part of Narita’s “second grand opening.” It plans to eventually scale up the annual takeoff and landing capacity to 500,000.

On Jan. 24, officials from airport operator Narita International Airport Corp. (NAA), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Chiba Prefecture and nine nearby municipalities held a meeting at the prefectural government’s office.

The session approved the plan presented by the government and NAA to raise the flight cap to 340,000.

“This project is crucial for us both to win the competition among Asian airports and to foster development of surrounding areas,” Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai said.

The annual cap was last increased in 2010 to 300,000.

Demand at Narita is projected to exceed 300,000 takeoffs and landings in 2026 at the earliest.

Under the envisioned ceiling of 340,000, Narita will have a daily average of 900 takeoffs and landings, up from the average of 724 for 2019.

In recent years, Narita’s global competitiveness has declined significantly.

Ranked eighth worldwide in 2000 with 26.6 million international passengers, Narita Airport fell to 18th place in 2019 at 36.7 million, behind South Korea’s Incheon, Taiwan’s Taoyuan and other Asian airports.

Local officials in Chiba Prefecture share an increasing sense of alarm.

“Narita could fall into oblivion if nothing is done,” one of them said.

The second grand opening program intends to bump up the flight capacity to 500,000 as early as possible.

The central and local governments agreed on the future capacity plan in 2018, and NAA is now forging ahead with efforts to enhance Narita’s functions.

The 2,500-meter Runway B will be extended 1,000 meters northward by March 2029, and the third airstrip--3,500-meter Runway C--will be built south of Runway B.

Ninety minutes will be added to the runways’ operational times based on an agreement with local governments.

“The government is moving to raise flight capacities at Fukuoka and Kansai, too, as airports play an especially important role in drawing wealth and energy from emerging nations, particularly in Asia,” said Kazusei Kato, an economics professor at Keio University who is familiar with transportation policy.

“Enhancing Narita’s competitiveness is essential for infrastructure development in the Tokyo metropolitan area, given that Haneda Airport is already operating at full capacity,” he said.

PERSONNEL SHORTAGE

However, Narita must overcome several hurdles to bolster its functions.

“The most pressing issue is securing human resources,” said NAA President Akihiko Tamura, who was once a transport ministry official.

The aviation industry currently suffers from a severe lack of security check personnel and ground-handling operators, such as traffic directors and airport reception staff.

Transport ministry statistics show that the number of airport workers nationwide decreased by nearly 20 percent from pre-COVID-19 levels.

As a result, an airport operator could not accommodate the desired maximum flight numbers of airlines.

Narita Airport’s workforce also shrank during the pandemic to 36,000 as of February 2023.

While the figure has since recovered to an estimated 40,000, around 70,000 workers are considered necessary under the functional improvement plan.

About half of the airport’s employees reside in nine surrounding municipalities, including Narita city, which are now plagued by declining populations.

Procuring an adequate workforce appears challenging.

Narita is considering an “airport tour” and other approaches to encourage young people to pursue careers in the aviation business.

NAA is also eyeing labor power from outside Japan.

It set up a liaison committee in December to promote the settlement of foreign workers at the airport.

The central government in spring last year added the aviation business to the list of “specific industries” where foreign workers can help to alleviate labor shortages.

A maximum of 4,400 foreign workers with “specified skills” will be accepted for jobs at airports over the five-year period through fiscal 2028. That is nearly five times the current number of foreign staff at airports nationwide.

SAFETY BOTTLENECK

The government has set a goal of attracting 60 million visitors to Japan by 2030, more than double the 25 million who visited in 2023.

Increasing Narita’s flight limit is essential to attain this target.

However, safety should obviously remain the top priority, including deployment of an appropriate number of air traffic controllers.

“The taxiway at Narita Airport is at times called the most complicated in Japan” because of the winding design on the vast grounds, said a veteran air traffic controller in his 50s. “Special attention must be given to unaccustomed foreign pilots during taxiing before takeoffs and after landings.”

Although runway expansion is unnecessary for raising the flight capacity to 340,000, the third airstrip and the lengthening of an existent one will be imperative to reach the ultimate goal of 500,000.

More traffic controllers will be needed. However, their overall number nationwide has remained steady at around 2,000 over the last decade.

NOISE POLLUTION

Another problem likely to be exacerbated is noise pollution.

More takeoffs and landings are expected in the morning and evening at Narita, since both domestic and foreign airlines prefer these hours.

NAA said it is “strengthening approaches to contain noise when flight capacity reaches 500,000.” But these measures may fall short.

One local government leader who generally supports the airport expansion plan has continued to call for “additional measures against noise.”

Nine municipalities around the airport are still struggling to dispel concerns about noise.

“I do not think the project will progress smoothly, taking into account the mountain of challenges,” said a mayor of one municipality. “Even so, areas in the proximity have no choice but to develop with Narita Airport.”

(This article was written by Seiichi Kobayashi, Takeshi Owada and Yuji Masuyama.)