The government and four municipalities have agreed on a funding program for the construction of a fourth runway at Tokyo's Haneda airport, paving the way for the launch of the 900 billion yen project in fiscal 2004.

Nobuteru Ishihara, minister of land, infrastructure and transport, said Friday that the agreement calls for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Kanagawa Prefecture and the cities of Yokohama and Kawasaki to extend interest-free loans totaling about 130 billion yen to the central government.

The metro government will loan 100 billion yen as part of the program, with the runway due to be completed in 2009.

The aim of the new runway is to increase the number of international flights at Haneda.

Most international flights traveling to and from the capital use Narita airport in Chiba Prefecture.

The agreement came a year after the local governments rejected calls from the ministry to cover a combined 30 percent of the overall cost, forcing it to hold off on budgetary arrangements.

But Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama and Kawasaki relented after the ministry promised to consider their demands for improving links to Haneda, according to officials familiar with the deal.

The metro government approved the loan scheme in the hope of benefiting from an increase in international flights, they said.