OSAKA -- The battle over the future of the Kansai region's airports heated up this month as the central government pressured Osaka's Itami airport to shift domestic flights to Kansai International Airport and threatened to take away Itami's official status as an international airport.

While welcomed by Kansai's regional senior governmental and business leaders as a way to raise domestic traffic at the subsidized Kansai airport, which just made its first profit since opening 10 years ago, the news angered many in the region who worry that it is the first step in Itami's eventual closure. Shutting down Itami, critics say, would make air travel to Osaka and Kyoto particularly difficult.

Earlier this month, officials from the finance and transport ministries notified local government and business officials that Itami's status could be downgraded in the hopes that more business would be directed to the offshore Kansai airport.