The transport ministry says it will consider expanding slots at the two main airports in the Tokyo metropolitan area to cover the expected growth in flight demand following the successful bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The ministry plans to increase the number of departure and landing slots at Haneda and Narita airports to 750,000 per annum as soon as fiscal 2014, compared with the current maximum of 680,000.
The ministry will convene a panel of academics and experts to discuss measures to boost the slots.
Among the ideas to be considered are building a new runway at Haneda and narrowing the time span between incoming and outgoing flights by allowing airplanes to fly over central Tokyo. This is currently prohibited due to safety concerns, ministry officials said.
Tokyo won the right to host the 2020 Olympics on Saturday by beating Istanbul and Madrid, prompting the need to develop infrastructure, including transportation.