TOKYO: Japan’s transport ministry said Friday that 14 air traffic controllers will be added from Thursday at five busy airports following a deadly aircraft collision at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in January.

The increase is aimed at boosting surveillance of takeoffs and landings, including through monitoring of radio contacts with pilots.

The five airports are Haneda Airport, Narita International Airport near Tokyo, Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, Fukuoka Airport in the Kyushu southwestern region and Naha Airport in southernmost Okinawa Prefecture.

Of the 14 controllers, six will be allocated to Haneda and two each to the other four airports.

Following the increase, the authorized number of air traffic controllers will be 2,068, of which about 120 are vacant. The vacancies will be filled by hiring more students from Aeronautical Safety College, which trains such controllers.

In response to the January collision, an expert panel set up by the ministry proposed in June an increase in air traffic controllers and re-evaluations of the current work environment of such staff, burdened with multiple operations.

On Jan. 2, a Japan Airlines passenger jet and a Japan Coast Guard aircraft collided on a Haneda Airport runway, leaving five coast guard crew members dead. Meanwhile, all passengers and crew members of the JAL plane were evacuated safely.

JIJI Press