OSAKA -- Tension over the future of airports in the Kansai region boiled over recently, with politicians and business leaders in Kobe and Osaka engaging in public skirmishes with the central government and with each other.
Debate covers a range of issues, from the role of three airports in the region to funding for Kansai International Airport's second runway, which is slated to open in 2007.
Besides Kansai airport, the region hosts Itami airport, which now handles only domestic flights, and Kobe airport, slated to open in 2006.