Osaka governor unveils plan to scrap Itami airport in '35

OSAKA (Kyodo) The Osaka Prefectural Government has come up with a plan that calls for scrapping Osaka airport at Itami in 2035 when maglev trains are scheduled to start running between Tokyo and Osaka, officials said Thursday.

The blueprint proposes using the site to build an international academic town for intensive English-language study with a population of 20,000.

The plan also envisages selling the airport site and using the proceeds to build a new maglev line linking downtown Osaka with Kansai International Airport in Osaka Bay.

The prefecture expects the plan to accelerate the flow of travelers to Kansai airport and make it an international hub accessible to residents in other major urban areas in and around Tokyo and Nagoya, they said.

Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto unveiled the plan during a meeting Wednesday of mayors and senior officials from 18 municipalities around Osaka airport.

Officially called Osaka International Airport, it is located in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture, and part of the Osaka Prefecture cities of Toyonaka and Ikeda. It is currently used mainly for domestic flights after international services moved to Kansai airport when it opened in 1994.

Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai), operator of bullet-train services on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line, plans to build the Chuo Shinkansen Line using magnetically levitated trains. It plans to construct the Tokyo-Nagoya section by 2025 and later extend the service to Osaka.