runway
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
regional
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
in
Hokkaidō
is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel.
The la ...
,
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 ...
, straddling the cities of
Asahikawa
is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture, and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. It has been a core city since April 1, 2000. The city is currently well known for the Asahiy ...
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
was the predecessor of Japan Air System.
On April 15, 1964, , , and merged to form Japan Domestic Airlines. On May 15, 1971, the airline merged with Toa Airways to form Toa Domestic Airlines; on April 1, 1988 the merged airline renamed itself ...
began the first scheduled flight to Asahikawa on July 1, 1966, a
NAMC YS-11
The NAMC YS-11 is a turboprop airliner designed and built by the Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (NAMC), a Japanese consortium. It was the only post-war airliner to be wholly designed and manufactured in Japan until the development of t ...
service to
Haneda Airport
, officially , and sometimes called as Tokyo Haneda Airport or Haneda International Airport , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary ...
via
Okadama Airport
is an airport located in Okadama-chō, Higashi-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, north of the city center of Sapporo. Its scheduled airline service is limited to turboprop flights to other cities in Hokkaidō; larger aircraft use New Chitose Airport, ...
. Scheduled service was seasonal (May through October) until 1970, when year-round flights to Tokyo began.
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
The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas.
After ...
Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is a wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Airbus.
In September 1967, aircraft manufacturers in the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a large airliner.
West G ...
s 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.
Hokkaido Air System
, or HAC, is a regional airline that operates scheduled services in Hokkaidō and Aomori Prefecture, Japan from a main base of operations at Okadama Airport in Higashi-ku, Sapporo.
Scheduled international service to Seoul began in 2006, using new international facilities in the airport terminal.
Asiana Airlines
Asiana Airlines Inc. ( ) is a South Korean airline headquartered in Seoul.Home ." Asiana Airlines. Retrieved 13 September 2 ...
operated this route intermittently until 2011, when international service at Asahikawa was suspended in the wake of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Thereafter,
TransAsia Airways
TransAsia Airways (TNA, until January 1992 known by its Chinese-translated name Foshing Airlines;For historical pictures with "Foshing Airlines" on it, see: ) was a Taiwanese airline based in Neihu District in Taipei. Though the company started ...
served Taipei from 2012 to 2016, and
EVA Air
EVA Airways Corporation (pronounced as three letters: ; ) (), of which "EVA" stands for Evergreen Airways, is a Taiwanese international airline based at Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei, Taiwan, operating passenger and dedicated carg ...
served the same route from 2013 to 2015.
China Eastern Airlines
China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited (), also known as China Eastern, is an airline headquartered in the China Eastern Airlines Building, on the grounds of Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Changning District, Shanghai. It is ...
began service to Beijing and Shanghai in 2014, but ended the Beijing route in 2016 and the Shanghai route in 2017.
Tigerair Taiwan
Tigerair Taiwan () is a low-cost carrier (LCC) based at Taoyuan International Airport. It was formed as a joint venture between China Airlines Group and Budget Aviation Holdings.
Prior to 2016, China Airlines held 80 percent of the share while ...
served the Taipei route from 2018 to 2020, and
Korean Air
Korean Air Co., Ltd. (), operating as Korean Air (Korean Air Lines before 1984), is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations and international flights.
The present-day Korean Air ...
served Seoul in the summer of 2019 with five flights per week.
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. The new international terminal opened in November 2018. An international lounge opened in January 2019.
The operating rights to Asahikawa Airport, along with six other airports in Hokkaido, were acquired by Hokkaido Airports Co., Ltd. in January 2020. Later that year, the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
ended all international service at the airport and cut domestic traffic by 82% as of September 2020.
Airlines and destinations
Statistics
Access
Asahikawa Airport is accessible by bus from
Asahikawa Station
is a railway station in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan, operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido).
Asahikawa Station is the central train station for the city of Asahikawa, which is the second largest city in Hokkaido by population af ...
,
Asahiyama Zoo
The is a municipal zoo that opened in July 1967 in Asahikawa, Hokkaidō, Japan, and is the northernmost zoo in the country. In August 2004, over 320,000 people had visited the zoo, the second highest number of visitors among all the zoos in Japan ...
, 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).
Japan Airlines
, also known as JAL (''Jaru'') or , is an international airline and Japan's flag carrier and largest airline as of 2021 and 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, as w ...