is an airport in Kitaakita, Akita,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and is west of Ōdate at above sea level. It is also informally known as Akita North Airport (あきた北空港 ''Akita Kita Kūkō'').

History

Efforts to build an airport in northern Akita Prefecture began in the late 1980s. The airport site was decided in April 1989, and construction began in 1994. Odate–Noshiro Airport opened on 18 July 1998, with Air Nippon services to Tokyo Haneda Airport and

Osaka Itami Airport , often referred to as is the primary regional airport for the Kansai region of Japan, including the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. Classified as a first class airport, it is the airport closest to Kyoto, southwest of Kyoto Station. ...

, and seasonal service to Sapporo New Chitose Airport. Services to Sapporo were discontinued in November 1999, and services to Osaka were suspended from May 2010. From January 2011,

charter flight Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights r ...

operations began to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

's Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. The airport is located in northern Akita Prefecture, primarily serving the city of

Noshiro 270px, Rice fields in the Noshiro Plain 270px, Yoneshiro River is a city located in Akita Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 49,935 in 24,200 households. Geography Noshiro is located in the flat coastal plains north ...

and the surrounding region, which includes tourist destinations such as Shirakami-Sanchi,

Lake Towada is the largest crater lake in Honshū island, Japan. Located on the border between Aomori and Akita prefectures, it lies 400 meters (1,800 ft) above sea level and is 327 m (1,073 ft) deep, drained by the Oirase river. With a s ...

, and

Towada-Hachimantai National Park is a national park comprising two separate areas of Aomori, Iwate, and Akita Prefectures, Japan. The Towada-Hakkōda area encompasses Lake Towada, Mount Hakkōda, and most of the Oirase River valley. The Hachimantai area includes Mount Hachim ...

. The airport terminal building makes extensive use of the local Akita cedar wood. However, the low local population density and competition from the Akita Shinkansen and its proximity to the international Aomori Airport have limited profitable airline operations.

Facilities

The airport has a single, three-story terminal building with one boarding gate. The unsecured part of the terminal building also functions as a roadside station, a government-designated rest area along Akita Prefecture Route 324.

Airlines and destinations

Ground transportation

Scheduled ground transportation is provided by Shuhoku Bus Group, which operates two daily "limousine bus" services to hotels in Odate City. Taxi and rental car service is also available.

References

External links

Odate-Noshiro Terminal Building
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odate-Noshiro Airport Airports in Japan Transport in Akita Prefecture Buildings and structures in Akita Prefecture Airports established in 1998 1998 establishments in Japan Kitaakita