Pierre J. Jeanniot, Director General & CEO of the International Air
Transport association (IATA), today offered his congratulations to the
Narita Airport Authority (NAA) in Japan, on the opening of the airport's
provisional second runway tomorrow, 18 April.
"Narita's long-awaited second runway will add much needed additional
capacity in one of the world's largest and most important travel markets.
And so, today marks the start of a new era in the development of Narita that
will bring considerable economic benefit to both businesses and consumers,"
he said.
"Additional capacity will bring reduced unit costs and additional traffic.
Additional traffic will bring additional revenue," added Jeanniot. "At
least part of these benefits should be passed on to the airlines by the NAA,
in the form of reduced user charges," added the Director General.
"The new era of air transport is marked by great challenges. Today the
industry is struggling for survival. Since September 11, over 200,000
airline employees have lost their jobs. The airline industry lost USD 12
billion on international operations last year alone."
"All players in the industry have worked extremely hard to reduce costs at
this critical time. Over the past 18 years Narita has not been successful
in achieving any cost savings, but now has a golden opportunity to do so.
Therefore, IATA encourages the NAA at this critical time in the industry's
history, to contribute meaningfully to the industry's recovery and future
stability," concluded Jeanniot. |
