TOKYO (AFP) - Asia's busiest airport, Tokyo's Haneda, might get even busier after the government proposed expanding its hours in hopes of luring more Asian visitors to Japan.
A government panel also urged Haneda to accommodate charter flights to Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games, two years before the airport completes its expansion.
The panel asked Haneda, which mostly handles domestic flights, to accommodate more service to Asian destinations and to expand early morning and late evening flights.
Japanese airports generally have strict rules against nighttime flights due to protests by nearby residents. Narita, a primarily international airport some 70 kilometers (45 miles) from Tokyo, shuts down completely at night.
The panel also urged other airports in Japan including those in the western metropolis of Osaka and the central city of Nagoya to "liberalise" by "opening and increasing routes that will befit their status as international hubs."
The so-called "Asian Gateway" plan is part of government efforts to boost Japan's role in Asia, where relations remain scarred by memories of Tokyo's wartime aggression.
"Japan embraces the vitality and growth of Asia," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said late Wednesday of the airport plan.
Japan's next task is to see "what kind of a constructive role a revitalised Japanese economy will play in the 21st century Asian economy," he added.
Japan should show itself in Asia as a country "where Asian people will want to visit, learn, work and live," Abe said.
Haneda airport saw more than 65 million passengers last year, making it the world's fourth largest airport, according to the Airports Council International.
The only busier airports are Hartsfield in Atlanta, O'Hare in Chicago and Heathrow in London, according to the industry group.