The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the municipal governments of five wards in Tokyo have agreed to new flight routes for Haneda Airport.
As the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics approach, the ministry plans to alter flight routes and times to Haneda Airport in order to accommodate more flights to and from the airport. The goal is to increase the number of annual departures and landings from the current 90,000 to 129,000 by 2020.
Airspace over the city center has been off limits to plane travel, requiring aircraft to approach Haneda over Tokyo Bay and Chiba Prefecture. The proposed new flight routes will allow aircraft to fly over Shibuya, Shinjuku, Minato, Shinagawa and Arakawa wards, Fuji TV reported. Aircraft will be flying lower than the height of Tokyo Tower over inhabited areas as they take off and land.
Initially, the plan drew a lot of protests from local residents worried about noise and safety. Transport Ministry and Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials met with municipal government representatives on July 28 to gain their approval. Specific measures to alleviate the noise problem were not discussed.
Most of the extra slots at Haneda are expected to go to foreign airlines, a transport ministry official said.
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What could possibly go wrong?
Nah, if something happens, they can just blame a foreign airline...