Japan and China have agreed to drastically increase the number of passenger and cargo flights between the two countries, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Friday.
The agreement, reached during a bilateral meeting of aviation officials in China's Hainan Province since Tuesday, is intended to accommodate the increasing number of tourists and businesspeople traveling between the two states as well as a sharp rise in food and clothing imports from China.
Under the agreement, the two will increase passenger flights by around 60 percent each from around spring 2002, when a new runway at Tokyo's Narita airport is expected to open.
That will mean an increase of about 50 round-trip flights per week for midsize aircraft with capacities of roughly 270 passengers.
Japan will also increase the number of airports serving flights to and from China to 15 from 13 but has yet to decide on the two additions.