What does innovation mean when planning tomorrow’s airports?

Narita International Airport (NIA) is undergoing a national project to enhance its airport capacity by constructing a new runway and extending the existing one.  

Coined the New Narita Airport master plan, the project not only entails building new infrastructure, but is also an opportunity to reconstruct the concept of an airport, according to Shinichiro Motomiya, General Manager of Airport Planning for the state-owned Narita International Airport Corporation (NAA). 

“As we need to increase the capacity of our infrastructure by adopting new technologies and services to meet the growing demand without disrupting operations, we believe it is important to leave our preconceptions behind and think outside of the box,” says Motomiya. 

Under its ambit, the masterplan will expand the capacity of the passenger terminal, cargo facilities, and airport facilities, while improving airport access and co-creation of an airport city alongside the local community.  

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Innovation’s place in master planning 

Upon its projected completion by the 2040s, the masterplan will accommodate the expected increase of passenger capacity from 57 to 75 million and cargo capacity from 2.4 to 3.5 million tonnes. 

Motomiya shares that as Japan's main gateway and the international airport in the Tokyo metropolitan area, NIA is expected to recover to its pre-Covid visitor traffic by 2025. 

In 2024, the airport saw more than 240,000 arrivals and departures and handled approximately 40 million passengers and 2 million tonnes of cargo. 

“We expect the number of passengers, air cargo volume, and the number of arrivals and departures to continue to grow steadily in the future, taking advantage of strong aviation demand in the Asia Pacific region,” he adds. 

By 2042, global passenger traffic is projected to reach 19.5 billion, representing a twofold increase compared to the levels recorded in 2024, according to reports from the Airports Council International (ACI) World and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). 

Following a two-year long study involving airport experts, local municipalities and the government of Japan, NAA announced its intentions for the airport revamp last year.  

While airport operators across the region are similarly making plans to capitalise on the bullish outlook, Motomiya is mindful of the challenges the country faces in conceptualising the airport of the future. 

The nation’s declining population coupled with a rapidly ageing society casts uncertainty for its domestic travels while labour shortages are also expected to become apparent. 

“We believe it is necessary to strongly promote the automation and streamlining of the airport operations that currently heavily rely on human labour to cope with the issues,” Motomiya says. 

The airport has already integrated facial recognition technology, smart security and fast travel technology to improve the passenger experience and efficiency from check-in to boarding gate. 

Moving forward, Motomiyao is looking to utilise the various operational data across airlines, ground handling operators, and other related entities, to optimise resource allocation and productivity improvements. 

“The world is approaching a point where various robots and facilities can operate autonomously by applying physical artificial intelligence (AI). We would like to maximise the use of this technology in airport operations to realise more efficient and sustainable airports,” he says. 

Flexibility in future planning 

He believes it is important to ensure a “sufficient margin” to accommodate future diverse needs and technological innovation in planning airport facilities, by remaining “sensitive” to changes in the wider environment. 

According to draft studies by the authority, the airport site needs to be expanded by 1,000 ha in order to make its targeted 500,000 annual aircraft movement per year possible. 

The airport needs to take into account the designated city planning area, including the bounds set by a planned construction of Metropolitan Inter-City Expressway, and the residential area in the surrounding area of NIA. 

“We believe that this project will be realised with the understanding and cooperation of all parties concerned, including airlines, railroad operators, neighbouring municipalities, and the national government …  collaborative partnerships and forward-thinking planning are essential to building the airports of the future,” says Motomiya. 

The airport’s masterplan continues to evolve as Motomiya continues to engage in consultations with multiple stakeholders. 

Emphasising on the airport project’s national importance, Motomiya says: We believe that efforts to resolve current issues will lead to the provision of better value in the future plan, and we would like to invite co-creating partners, including those from industry and academia, to conduct demonstration experiments at the actual airport field to resolve issues at the actual airport operation site.”