OSAKA -- Kansai officials have announced that costs for extensions to Kansai International Airport will be slashed by 140 billion yen.

Faced with strong pressure from the central government to reduce costs, the measures include postponing indefinitely construction of a third, crosswind runway.

The Committee to Promote the Building of Kansai Airport, headed by Osaka Gov. Fusae Ota and Yoshihisa Akiyama, head of the Kansai Economic Federation, announced the decision at the committee's annual general meeting Monday.