The finance and transport ministries agreed Saturday to construct a second runway at debt-ridden Kansai International Airport to be operational by 2007, transport minister Kazuo Kitagawa said.
The negotiations between the two ministries for the fiscal 2005 budget was settled as both agreed to scale down nearby Itami airport, hoping to induce flight shifts from Itami to Kansai airport.
"I believe that the role of Kansai airport will be greater as it positions itself as the hub airport in the region on a par with Tokyo's Narita airport and Chubu International Airport," Kitagawa told reporters.