The operator of Narita International Airport said Tuesday it will cut landing fees for international flights by an average of 5.5 percent starting next April.
Narita International Airport Corp. said the first fee revision since October 2005 will trim landing fee revenue by about ¥2.1 billion a year, but the revenue loss will be limited to about ¥1 billion by ending discounts on office fees and other measures.
The fee revision is intended to help Narita better compete with South Korea's Incheon, Shanghai's Pudong and other airports in the race to become Asia's main air travel hub. Landing fees at Narita are currently higher than its competitors.
With the revision, fees at Narita will be about ¥428,000 per landing in the case of a Boeing 777-200, down ¥28,000 from the current level.
The new fee will compare with ¥549,000 at Kansai International Airport, ¥195,000 at Incheon and ¥170,000 at Pudong.
After the global financial crisis triggered by the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008, Narita introduced a provisional fee discount of around 7 percent, which was in place from November 2009 to March 2011. The airport operator and airlines have since continued negotiations on permanent fee cuts.
"The fee cuts are designed to help the airport survive international competition, but they're not yet sufficient," Makoto Natsume, president of the operator, said at a news conference.
He said that the operator plans to consider special discounts for newly launched or added flights.