Tokyo 2020 Olympics : Japan in talks with US for civilian use of Yokota air base
Tokyo, Apr 19 (UNI) The government of Japan is in talks with the US for using Yakota air base for civilian purpose during the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Yakota air base is mainly used by military transport aircraft including the C-130 Hercules, which are stationed at the base.
The Japenese government has asked the US government to open the runway to commercial flights at least temporarily turning the facility into a civilian-military dual-use airport to increase the capital's air traffic capacity for the 2020 Games, Japan's The Mainichi reported.
The base covers about 720 hectares in Fussa and neighboring areas of western Tokyo. The site has a single runway around 3,350 meters long and 60 meters wide.
At a 2003 Japan-US summit, Washington agreed to then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's petition to examine the Yokota runway for possible dual civilian-military use.
Japan's increasing foreign tourist numbers has led the Tokyo metropolitan and other local municipal governments to demand boosts to the capital's airport capacity, including the dual use initiative for Yokota.
Tokyo first proposed turning Yokota into a dual-use airport permanently to alleviate congestion at Narita and Haneda, the two main airports servicing the capital, heading into the games.Washington's response was cautious because the measure would limit US military flights. Japan then asked to allow athletes from the US and its allies use of the base.
To increase international flights at Haneda Airport, the US government agreed in January this year to allow some civilian aircraft to plot flight paths through airspace over the capital reserved for US forces.