Japan and the United States are considering building a floating runway off southwestern Japan to ease noise pollution caused by night practice landings of US military planes, a report said Sunday.
The runway would be sited about four kilometers (2.5 miles) off the US Marine Corps’ Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi prefecture, 700 kilometersmiles) southwest of Tokyo, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said.
The two governments plan to include the proposal in their interim report on the realignment of US forces in Japan to be drafted in October, the newspaper said.
Construction costs for the planned floating runway are estimated at between 400 billion yen and 500 billion yen (3.6 billion to 4.5 billion dollars), the newspaper said.
About 70 fighter jets aboard the USS Kitty Hawk are being considered for relocation to the Iwakuni facility, the Yomiuri said.
The aircraft carrier uses the US Yokosuka Naval Base in Kanagawa prefecture, south of Tokyo, as its mother port.
Some jets from the Kitty Hawk use a US military base near residential areas of Atsugi near Tokyo for night landing practice, causing serious noise problems for residents.
The Iwakuni municipal government and other nearby local governments oppose the proposed relocation of the air force units, saying noise and risk of accidents will increase, the Yomiuri added.
