Pact with US lets Japan's Haneda airport boost capacity ahead of Olympics

The US has agreed to let commercial flights use airspace controlled by its forces in Japan, meaning the capacity of one of Tokyo's main airports will get a boost in time for the 2020 Olympics, the govt said Wednesday. The extra capacity will help prime minister Shinzo Abe's govt make tourism a pillar of growth and to boost arrivals by 28% from last year, to 40m by 2020. The US and Japan reached the agreement on opening up the airspace Tuesday. The agreement allows commercial flights landing at Haneda to enter US forces-controlled airspace above parts of Tokyo and the vicinity, making it possible to raise the number of international flights it can handle by 65%, to 99,000 a year, a Transport Ministry official said. The agreement will go into effect before Tokyo hosts the summer Olympic Games in 2020. <br/>