Asahikawa Airport

旭川空港

Asahikawa Kūkō
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerMinistry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
OperatorHokkaido Airports
ServesAsahikawa, Hokkaidō, Japan
LocationHigashikagura, Hokkaido
Elevation AMSL690 ft / 210 m
Coordinates43°40′15″N 142°26′51″E / 43.67083°N 142.44750°E / 43.67083; 142.44750
Map
RJEC is located in Hokkaido
RJEC
RJEC
Location in Hokkaidō
RJEC is located in Japan
RJEC
RJEC
Location in Japan
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
16/34 2,500 8,202 Asphalt concrete
Statistics (2015)
Passengers1,148,825
Cargo (metric tonnes)5,346
Aircraft movement8,045

Asahikawa Airport (旭川空港, Asahikawa Kūkō) (IATA: AKJ, ICAO: RJEC), is a single-runway regional airport in Hokkaidō, Japan, straddling the cities of Asahikawa and Higashikagura.

History

Planning of the airport began in the late 1950s. The site was chosen in November 1960 and received government approval in 1963. Japan Domestic Airlines began the first scheduled flight to Asahikawa on July 1, 1966, a NAMC YS-11 service to Haneda Airport via Okadama Airport. Scheduled service was seasonal (May through October) until 1970, when year-round flights to Tokyo began.[2]

The airport was closed for expansion work from May 1981 until February 1982, during which time the main runway was extended and widened, from 1,200 x 30 m to 1,640 m x 45 m. A further extension to 2,000 m was completed in November 1982. Following these expansions, jet service began at the airport, beginning with DC-9 and the MD-80 aircraft followed by widebody Airbus A300s beginning in December 1983.

ANA operated the first international charter flight from Asahikawa in 1987. Another runway extension, to 2,500 m, was completed in 1997, and the parallel taxiway opened in 1998.[2]

Hokkaido Air System operated intra-island flights from Asahikawa to Hakodate (1998 to 2013) and Kushiro (1998 to 2008).[3]

Scheduled international service to Seoul began in 2006, using new international facilities in the airport terminal.[2] Asiana Airlines operated this route intermittently until 2011, when international service at Asahikawa was suspended in the wake of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.[3] Thereafter, TransAsia Airways served Taipei from 2012 to 2016, and EVA Air served the same route from 2013 to 2015.[3] China Eastern Airlines began service to Beijing and Shanghai in 2014, but ended the Beijing route in 2016 and the Shanghai route in 2017.[3] Tigerair Taiwan served the Taipei route from 2018 to 2020,[3] and Korean Air served Seoul in the summer of 2019 with five flights per week.[4][3]

In 2016, plans were finalized to build a new 5,700 m2 international terminal to the south of the existing terminal, with a target of 500,000 international passengers per year by 2030.[5] The new international terminal opened in November 2018.[6] An international lounge opened in January 2019.[7]

The operating rights to Asahikawa Airport, along with six other airports in Hokkaido, were acquired by Hokkaido Airports Co., Ltd. in January 2020.[8] Later that year, the COVID-19 pandemic ended all international service at the airport and cut domestic traffic by 82% as of September 2020.[9]

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Air Do Tokyo–Haneda
All Nippon Airways Seasonal: Nagoya–Centrair, Tokyo–Haneda
Asiana Airlines Seoul–Incheon
Japan Airlines Tokyo–Haneda
Seasonal: Osaka–Itami
Jetstar Japan Tokyo–Narita[10]
Juneyao Air Shanghai–Pudong (begins 16 January 2024)[11]
Tigerair Taiwan Taipei–Taoyuan[12]
T'way Air Cheongju

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at AKJ airport. See Wikidata query.

Access

Asahikawa Airport is accessible by bus from Asahikawa Station, Asahiyama Zoo, and Furano Station. From Asahikawa Station it is about 15 km (35 minutes by bus) while from Furano Station it is about 40 km (1 hour by bus).

References

  1. ↑ "Asahikawa Airport" (PDF). Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "空港の沿革" (PDF). City of Asahikawa. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "旭川空港の沿革 | 旭川市". www.city.asahikawa.hokkaido.jp. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  4. ↑ "大韓航空、旭川－ソウル6月就航 737で週5往復". Aviation Wire (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  5. ↑ "旭川空港ビル増築、国際線施設を拡充 46億円投資". The Nikkei. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  6. ↑ "国際線ターミナルビル明日オープン！！！！ | 旭川空港ターミナル". www.aapb.co.jp. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  7. ↑ "旭川空港、国際線ラウンジ開業 直営免税店に地酒も". Aviation Wire (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  8. ↑ "北海道内７空港特定運営事業等 ビル施設等事業開始について" (PDF).
  9. ↑ "旭川空港が完全民営化、10月から北海道エアポート運営". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  10. ↑ "JETSTAR JAPAN ADDS TOKYO – ASAHIKAWA SERVICE FROM DEC 2023". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  11. ↑ "Juneyao Airlines Resumes Hokkaido Service in NW23". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  12. ↑ "Tigerair Taiwan NS23 Japan Operations – 10MAR23". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
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