With the scheduled August 2 opening of a second runway, fi nancially troubled Kansai International Airport is hoping to be revived as a major Asian freight hub, according to a Japan Times report. Since the offshore airport opened in 1994 with one runway, it has touted itself as, among others, a cargo gateway to Asia. Over the years, the number of fl ights to Asia, especially China, has increased as fl ights to Europe and North America were cut back.

The volume of international freight is forecasted to increase three times to between 1.4 million and 2.5 million tonnes a year by 2017. In fi scal 2006, about 750,000 tonnes of international cargo passed through the airport.