JAPAN TIMES
 
NARITA, CHIBA PREF. – The cumulative number of passengers at Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture topped 900 million Monday, 36 years and seven months after the airport’s opening.
 
Amid severe protests, the airport started operations with only one runway in May 1978. But the passenger figure grew steadily in the 1980s and 1990s, thanks to the rising number of Japanese traveling abroad.
 
The second runway came into use in 2002 and was extended in length to 2,500 meters in 2009, doubling the airport’s capacity to handle takeoffs and landings.
 
But the number of international flight passengers failed to increase much thereafter, reflecting the expansion of international services at rival Tokyo International Airport at Haneda in 2010 and after.
 
Meanwhile, the number of domestic passengers at Narita has increased sharply since low-cost Japanese carriers successively came to offer services there from 2012.
 
Makoto Natsume, president of Narita International Airport Corp., said at a ceremony held at the airport to mark the milestone figure that the company hopes the airport will become one chosen by travelers and loved by the people living nearby.
 
The 900 millionth passenger, a U.S. company employee, described the airport as good and said he has used it more than 15 times, noting it would be better if there were more facilities for relaxing.