Transport Minister Takao Fujii said March 20 that the ministry will examine the possibility of reducing airport landing fees so Japanese carriers can compete fairly with foreign airlines.
Carriers are required to pay a landing fee each time they fly to an airport, and Japanese airports are often criticized for being the most expensive in the world. The expensive fees raise the cost of plane tickets, especially for airlines based in Japan.
Fujii said the matter should be examined, although it would be difficult to reduce costs because the fees are used for airport construction. The landing fee for a Boeing 767-300 at Narita airport in 1995 was 365,000 yen, the most expensive in the world. The fee was 128,000 yen at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York and 62,000 yen at Heathrow in London during peak season.