OSAKA: A council comprising a company that operates three airports in the Kansai western Japan region and others confirmed a plan Monday to increase landing and takeoff slots at two of the airports.

The move comes as demand for air travel is expected to grow during the World Exposition to be held in the city of Osaka, part of Kansai, for six months from mid-April 2025.

The upper limit on the number of landing and takeoff slots will be raised to 60 from 45 per hour, or by about 30 percent, for Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture, and to 120 from 80 per day, or by 50 percent, for Kobe Airport in neighboring Hyogo Prefecture.

Members of the council agreed on the hike at a meeting held in the city of Osaka on Monday. The additional slots at the two airports will be used from spring next year.

Members of the group include Kansai Airports, the operator of the airports, the prefectures of Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto and Wakayama, and the Kansai Economic Federation, or Kankeiren.

Participants at the meeting, including governors or vice governors from the four Kansai prefectures, discussed a transport ministry plan on new flight routes to be introduced in line with the hike in slots.

They agreed on the hike on the premise that maximum consideration will be given to opinions of residents around the airports and relevant local communities in measures for addressing aircraft noise and other issues.

“(The hike in slots) is extremely important for the growth of Osaka and Kansai,” Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura told reporters after the meeting.

“It is important for the airports and local communities to prosper together,” Kankeiren chief Masayoshi Matsumoto, who heads the council, said at a press conference.

The expo will be held on Yumeshima, a manmade island in Osaka Bay.

JIJI Press