is a 2nd-class airport in

Higashine, Yamagata is a city located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 47,910 in 17868 households, and a population density of 230 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Located on the eastern shore of ...

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 n ...

. The airport is north of the city of Yamagata.

History

Kamiyama Training Airfield was opened by the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It was briefly used by the United States military after the war and then by the

Japanese Self-Defense Force The Japan Self-Defense Forces ( ja, 自衛隊, Jieitai; abbreviated JSDF), also informally known as the Japanese Armed Forces, are the unified ''de facto''Since Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution outlaws the formation of armed forces, the ...

as a training facility. In June 1964, it was turned over to civilian control as “Jinmachi Airport” (神町空港), a third-class regional airport. It was renamed Yamagata Airport in 1965. A helicopter detachment from the JGSDF 6th Division has been based at the airport since 1969. The runway was extended to 1500 meters in 1972, and the airport was re-designated as Class-II in 1979. The runway was further extended to 2000 meters in 1981 and a new terminal building completed in 1984. Regularly scheduled services began in 1964, with

All Nippon Airways , also known as ANA (''Ē-enu-ē'') or is an airline in Japan. Its headquarters are located in Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area of Minato ward of Tokyo. It operates services to both domestic and international destinations and had m ...

operating Fokker F.27 service to Tokyo (Haneda). The service was upgraded to YS-11s in 1972 and to

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...

s in 1976. By 1985 ANA offered five daily flights to Haneda, one of which was operated by a widebody

Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified o ...

Japan Air System was the smallest of the big three Japanese airlines. In contrast to the other two, JAL and ANA, JAS' international route network was very small, but its domestic network incorporated many smaller airports that were not served by the two large ...

began service to Osaka (Itami) and

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

in 1979. International charter service commenced in 1981, and the airport hosted long-haul charters to countries such as Finland, Hungary, New Zealand and Mexico. The number of passengers using the airport peaked in 1991 and declined precipitously, particularly on the Tokyo route, due to the completion of the

Yamagata Shinkansen The is a Mini-shinkansen route in Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It provides service between Tokyo and Shinjō in Yamagata Prefecture over the tracks of the Tohoku Shinkansen and the Ōu Main Line. The term Yam ...

in 1992. The Tokyo route saw 470,618 passengers in 1991 but was down to 43,447 passengers in 2002. All Nippon Airways suspended the Tokyo service and withdrew from the airport in 2002, with JAS resuming the route as a single daily

MD-87 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gener ...

service in 2003. JAS also operated an Osaka (Kansai) service from 1995 to 2002, and a

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...

service from 2006 to 2008, while Nakanihon Airlines operated a summer seasonal

Hakodate is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.8 ...

service from 1998 to 2001. Currently, the airport is served by JAL and FDA using an

Embraer 170 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding E ...

Embraer 190 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding ...

and

to Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo and Nagoya. During the aftermath of the

2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''E ...

, American troops used Yamagata Airport as a base for transporting fuel and materials to the disaster areas (part of

Operation Tomodachi was a United States Armed Forces (especially U.S. Forces Japan) assistance operation to support Japan in disaster relief following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The operation took place from 12 March to 4 May 2011; involved 24,000 U ...

). According to the

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

, this was the first time that the U.S. military had used a private airport in Japan for anything other than emergency landings.

Terminal

The airport has a two-story terminal with two boarding gates and a rooftop observation deck.

Airlines and destinations

Ground transportation

The airport has bus service to

Yamagata Station is a railway station in Yamagata, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Yamagata Station is served by the following lines. * Yamagata Shinkansen * Ōu Main Line * Senzan Line * Aterazawa Line Sta ...

timed to coincide with flight schedules to and from Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. Sakurambo-Higashine Station is seven minutes by car but is not connected to the airport by scheduled transportation.

Buses

Shared Taxi

Sightseeing bus

References

External links

*
Home page
*
Yamagata Prefectural Government
* * {{authority control Airports in Japan Transport in Yamagata Prefecture Buildings and structures in Yamagata Prefecture Higashine, Yamagata