is a

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

airport in Yao,

Osaka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture ...

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 ...

. Located southeast of

Ōsaka Station is a major railway station in the Umeda district of Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It forms the city's main rail terminal in the north. Although it is officially served by only the JR Kobe/Kyoto Lines ( ...

, it is also an airbase for the

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

. Several small carriers offer sightseeing and charter flights from Yao, including Asahi Airlines and Hankyu Airlines. Yao is the only

second class airport This is a list of airports in Japan, grouped by classification and sorted by location. As of February 2012, the country has a total of 98 airports, of which 28 are operated by the central government and 67 by local governments.Aoki, Mizuho,Bubble ...

in Japan that does not have scheduled airline services.

History

The airport started as Hanshin Aviation School in 1938. Two years later the airfield was seized by the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

as the Taishō Airfield and expanded. After World War II, the occupation forces called it the Hanshin Airfield before it was returned to Japanese control.

Operations

Self-Defense Forces

The

operates a base at the airport, . Units based at Camp Yao include: * units (other than which is based in

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture to ...

): ** ** -

UH-1 The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered helic ...

and OH-1 transport/observation helicopters ** ** * -

and OH-6 transport/observation helicopters

Osaka Prefecture

The Osaka Prefectural Fire Department operates two

Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin The Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) AS365 Dauphin (''Dolphin''), also formerly known as the Aérospatiale SA 365 Dauphin 2, is a medium-weight multipurpose twin-engine helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters. It was originally developed ...

helicopters from Yao. They are primarily used for firefighting within Osaka, but were dispatched overseas to assist with the

1991 Bangladesh cyclone The 1991 Bangladesh cyclone was among the deadliest tropical cyclones on record. Forming out of a large area of convection over the Bay of Bengal on April 24, the tropical cyclone initially developed gradually while meandering over the sout ...

and the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

References

Transport in Osaka Prefecture Airports in Japan Buildings and structures in Osaka Prefecture Japan Ground Self-Defense Force bases Yao, Osaka {{Osaka-geo-stub