The transport ministry on Friday sharply lowered its forecast for passenger demand at Kansai International Airport off Osaka, indicating that the scheduled opening of a second runway in 2007 could be delayed.
In a revised estimate based on the government's new GDP forecast and projections for the yen-dollar exchange rate, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry now expects Kansai airport to deal with 136,000 landings and takeoffs in fiscal 2007.
This figure is 15 percent lower than an earlier estimate submitted by the airport's operator, Kansai International Airport Co.