Bluezoo
07-18-2005, 12:15 PM
Japan, U.S. Reach Accord on Airspace Control over U.S. Base in Tokyo
Japan and the United States have reached an agreement on the return of Yokota Air Base’s airspace control over Tokyo and its vicinities to Japan by 2009, a report said July 17.
The agreement was made during talks about the realignment of U.S. forces stationed in Japan as part of Washington’s ongoing global reconfiguration, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said, quoting government sources.
The government was likely to be included in an interim report on bilateral talks on the realignment of U.S. troops in Japan to be released in September, the mass-circulation daily said.
Under the accord, Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force would take over the radar approach control from Yokota, one of the U.S. Air Force’s three active airfields in Japan, the Yomiuri said.
The two governments agreed the United States would open certain areas of the zones, which cover Tokyo and eight eastern prefectures, for regular commercial aircraft.
The two countries also agreed the U.S. Air Force and Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force would jointly use the base, relocating the ASDF’s Air Defense Command to Yokota from Fuchu in western Japan, it said.
Currently, airlines set flight routes shy of the radar approach control zones supervised by the U.S. Air Force base as civilian aircraft must get approval to fly through the zones and follow military air traffic controllers’ advisories.
Japan had long called on the United States to revert Yokota’s air control operations to Japan, saying the base’s air control was a major factor causing air traffic congestion in the region.
For the full text, go to:
http://defensenews.com/story.php?F=979629&C=asiapac
Japan and the United States have reached an agreement on the return of Yokota Air Base’s airspace control over Tokyo and its vicinities to Japan by 2009, a report said July 17.
The agreement was made during talks about the realignment of U.S. forces stationed in Japan as part of Washington’s ongoing global reconfiguration, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said, quoting government sources.
The government was likely to be included in an interim report on bilateral talks on the realignment of U.S. troops in Japan to be released in September, the mass-circulation daily said.
Under the accord, Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force would take over the radar approach control from Yokota, one of the U.S. Air Force’s three active airfields in Japan, the Yomiuri said.
The two governments agreed the United States would open certain areas of the zones, which cover Tokyo and eight eastern prefectures, for regular commercial aircraft.
The two countries also agreed the U.S. Air Force and Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force would jointly use the base, relocating the ASDF’s Air Defense Command to Yokota from Fuchu in western Japan, it said.
Currently, airlines set flight routes shy of the radar approach control zones supervised by the U.S. Air Force base as civilian aircraft must get approval to fly through the zones and follow military air traffic controllers’ advisories.
Japan had long called on the United States to revert Yokota’s air control operations to Japan, saying the base’s air control was a major factor causing air traffic congestion in the region.
For the full text, go to:
http://defensenews.com/story.php?F=979629&C=asiapac