Legal Narita Airport considers expropriation to finish runway development

The operator of Narita Airport is weighing compulsory land acquisition to move ahead with a long-delayed plan to build a new runway and extend another, sources said Wednesday. The push comes as inbound tourism continues to grow. The project had been aimed for a March 2029 start, but delays are now likely. About 90% of the land has been secured, the sources said, though some remaining landowners are unhappy with the compensation.

Narita International Airport Corp. is expected to inform the transport ministry to proceed under the compulsory purchase law and to explain the move to local communities. The law allows authorities to acquire land for public projects.

Construction of the 3,500-meter Runway C and extension of the 2,500-meter Runway B by 1,000 meters commenced at Narita airport in Chiba Prefecture after state approval was granted in January 2020, according to the airport operator. Once the work is completed, the airport will roughly double in size to 2,297 hectares, and its annual arrival and departure slots are expected to expand to 500,000 from 340,000 currently. In late March, local groups supportive of the expansion submitted a proposal calling for the company to consider expropriation.

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Narita Airport opened in 1978 despite fierce local resistance to land acquisition, following the central government's approval of its construction in July 1966.