ORIX Corporation and VINCI Airports have been selected for final bid for the concession for airport operation of Kansai International Airport and Osaka International Airport in Japan.

This announcement comes after the ORIX and VINCI Airports announced last month an agreement to cooperate and proceed with the selection procedures as equal business partners.

According to sources, there were two other bidders but they did not qualify as airport operator.

The concession will be for a period of 44 years. Government officials expect to fetch at least JPY2.2 trillion ($17.8 billion) from the winning bidder.

The preferred bidder will be announced on 18 September. The wining consortium is scheduled to begin operating the airports by March 2016.

Together, the Kansai and Osaka international airports, have a total of 32 million passengers, which represents 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.

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