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The growth of domestic passenger traffic demand over the past decade averaged
about 20% annually, and transport capacity, in terms of seat-kilometers, grew
at an annual average rate of about 18%.
In FY1977, domestic routes averaged a loading efficiency of 70%.
To moderate this high traffic congestion, it is necessary to build up air
transport capacities in a planned way. While airports must be upgraded, the
civil air industry itself must make efforts to improve equipment.
Today, there is a growing demand to reduce aircraft noise. Under pressure
from local communities around each airport, the investment in environmental
protection equipment has skyrocketed. Combined with sharp increases in airport
upkeep and maintenance costs, this has almost doubled the outlay from the special
account for airport improvement in the five years from FY1972 to FY1977.
Airline operators were forced to increase the ratio of the airport-related
costs to their operating expenses from 18.4% in FY1972 to 23.3% in FY1977. This
rise in operating costs is expected to cause a mark-up in air tariffs in the
future.
Since funds are necessary for promoting environmental protection measures
and airport improvement in a smooth way in the future, it has become an urgent
matter to study ways to share costs.
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