ORIX Corporation and VINCI Airports have reached an agreement to consider joint bidding in the concession for airport operation of Kansai International Airport and Osaka International Airport in Japan.

Under this Memorandum of Understanding, ORIX and VINCI Airports, as equal business partners, will cooperate and proceed with the selection procedures. Going forward, ORIX and VINCI Airports will consider submitting formal bid for the operating right of the two Airports following negotiations with ew Kansai International Airport Company, Ltd. (NKIAC) and due diligences, including detailed asset assessment.

Together, the Kansai and Osaka international airports, combining for a total of 32 million passengers, represent the second busiest airport group in Japan.

• Kansai International Airport is Located on an artificial island in the middle of Osaka Bay, 38 km southwest of ?saka Station, located within three municipalities, including Izumisano, Sennan and Tajiri. The airport was opened on 4 September 1994 to handle increasing passenger numbers at Osaka International Airport, which is closer to the city of Osaka and now handles only domestic flights. The airport serves as a hub for local airlines such as All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and Nippon Cargo Airlines.

• Osaka International Airport s the primary domestic airport for the Kansai region of Japan, including the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. It is classified as a first class airport.  Kansai International Airport took over Osaka's international traffic in 1994 and competes with Itami for domestic traffic.

Government officials expect fetch at least JPY2tn ($16.53 billion) from the winning bidder.

The bidding process is part of prime minister Shinzo Abe's strategy to strengthen private-sector investment in Japan's infrastructure to help the nation reduce its debt.

The country is also selling the operating rights for its tenth largest airport, Sendai Airport in northern Japan.