Four Corners
Our high-flying columnists from the four corners of the globe bring us a historical perspective from Japan, a positive forecast for India, a food revolution in the US and a celebrity backlash in Australia
JAPAN A history of Narita Airport Tim Zandbergen
manager sales and marketing TFK Corporation
“Narita’s aim was to alleviate an overcrowded
Haneda and be a gateway to a
resurgent Japan” INDIA India is on the up for air traffic Zafar Siamwala
chief operating officer Oberoi Flight Services
Doha, India and Mauritius
The forecast released by IATA indicates that the world will continue to become more mobile. In five years we need to be able to handle 800 million more passengers, meaning more efficient air traffic management and airport facilities. By 2014, the top five countries
“India’s outlook is for strong and
sustained growth, where everyone can fly”
40
www.onboardhospitality.com
for international travel, measured by number of passengers, will be the US (at 215 million, an increase of 45 million), the United Kingdom (at 198 million with an increase of 33 million), Germany (at 163 million with an increase of 29 million), Spain (123 million with an increase of 21 million), and France (111 million with an increase of 21 million) and the five largest markets for domestic travel will be the US (671 million), China (379
million), Japan (102 million), Brazil (90 million) and India (69 million). India’s outlook is for strong and sustained economic growth of close to 9% per annum over the next decade. Over 13 million passengers flew between India and the Middle East during the year ending November 2010. This trend is expected to continue and most airlines want a larger share. IndiGo plans to acquire 180 Airbus
aircraft, the largest ever commitment for new Airbus equipment. The New Delhi-based carrier has come a long way since it inaugurated flights in August 2006 and handled just over 970,000 passengers in December 2010. This was achieved with a load-factor of 93.3 per cent - the
highest of all of the country’s carriers during that month. However, with strong competition from Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and Spice Jet over domestic skies, it now plans to introduce services overseas. Jet Airways has an order book of 49
aircraft which will be a mix of both Airbus and Boeing. In July last year, Spice Jet signed a deal with Boeing to acquire 30 Boeing 737s at an estimated value of $2.7 billion. From the demand side, the Indian market is well positioned for growth for the next three to five years. The air traffic demand is likely to remain strong on the back of growth in the Indian economy, high disposable incomes and rising middle class aspirations so everyone can fly.
As a long term resident of Narita and an employee at Narita International Airport, I wanted to begin in this column, and continue in further columns, with a background of the historical development of the airport for those who, like millions of passengers a year, use it only to arrive and depart before quickly moving onto Tokyo or further afield. Narita is a charming old city known to have been inhabited since prehistoric times; rice farming began in the area around 100 BC. Its main road leading to the 1000 year-old Narita Shinshoji Temple is lined with about 150 small family-run shops and is widely regarded as one of the best traditional old city streets in Japan. The surrounding countryside
is also enchantingly beautiful and it was on this land that the Japanese government made the fateful decision in the early 1960’s to build a new showcase international airport to alleviate overcrowded Haneda Airport and become a gateway to a resurgent Japan, growing rapidly and confidently following the ashes of World War II. The original airport plan was to
have two 4000 metre runways and two intersecting 3200 metre runways with modern terminals and high- speed rail links to central Tokyo. The project, though, got off to a very bad start even before actual construction began. The main bone of contention is that the central government made a decision unilaterally without any
attempt at consulting local residents who have lived on the land for centuries. People were told to sell their land or else and this top-down attitude only served to strengthen local farmers’ resistance, who were slowly strengthened by supporters from all over Japan. What happened next was called “Japan’s Vietnam” LATE NEWS (March 17) Message following the earthquake:
“TFK and our employees are safe, and our family is staying together at the farm where we have diesel generators and stockpiles of food. The situation in Japan is changing too rapidly to absorb. It’s a multidimensional crisis with a heartbreaking human story. Please consider donating money through established charities.”
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