Naha Airport Explained

Nativename:
Iata:OKA
Icao:ROAH
Type:Public / Military
Owner-Oper:Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
City-Served:Okinawa Prefecture
Location:Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
Coordinates:26.1958°N 127.6458°W
Elevation-F:11
Elevation-M:3
Pushpin Map:Japan Okinawa Prefecture#Japan
Pushpin Label:OKA/ROAH
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Japan
Metric-Rwy:y
R1-Number:18L/36R
R1-Length-M:3,000
R1-Length-F:9,843
R1-Surface:Asphalt concrete
R2-Number:18R/36L
R2-Length-M:2,700
R2-Length-F:8,858
R2-Surface:Asphalt concrete
Stat-Year:2015
Stat1-Header:Passengers
Stat1-Data:18,336,030
Stat2-Header:Cargo (metric tonnes)
Stat2-Data:399,764
Stat3-Header:Aircraft movement
Stat3-Data:156,245
Footnotes:Source: Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism[1]

is an international airport located 4km (02miles) west of the city hall[2] in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is Japan's sixth busiest airport and the primary air terminal for passengers and cargo traveling to and from Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It handles scheduled international traffic to Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and mainland China. The airport is also home to Naha Air Base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.

Naha Airport is the hub for Japan Transocean Air, which connects Okinawa Prefecture with other prefectures of Japan, and Ryukyu Air Commuter, which connects Okinawa main island with surrounding islands.

Naha Airport is a 24-hour airport, and served 21.5 million passengers in 2018, an increase of roughly three million passengers in two years. It’s the sixth busiest airport in Japan after New Chitose Airport in Sapporo. As of 2022, the route between Tokyo Haneda Airport and Naha Airport is the third busiest in Japan, while the route between Fukuoka Airport and Naha is the seventh busiest.The longest domestic scheduled flight in Japan is the daily route between New Chitose and Naha, operated by Peach Aviation. The flight takes 4 hours.

According to Skytrax’s World Top Airports 100 in 2024, Naha Airport is ranked 91st in the world, a significant improvement from 199th place the previous year, making Naha Airport the most improved airport in the world.

History

Early years

, an Imperial Japanese Navy airfield, opened in 1933. The base was taken over by the United States in 1945 and was renamed . Pan American World Airways and Northwest Orient began service to Naha in 1947. The airport was closed for refurbishment between 1952 and 1954. Japan Airlines began service to Okinawa during this time and initially used Kadena Air Base.

Air America operated interisland flights to Miyako and Ishigaki from 1964 to 1967, when Southwest Airlines (now Japan Transocean Air) took over these routes. Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972. In 1982, Naha Airport was transferred from US military control to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. The basic and detailed design engineering works in addition to the later construction management phase of the main passenger terminal were awarded in the 1990s in part to the Japan Branch of the American design-build engineering company, The Austin Company, which joined Japanese firms in a joint venture design consortium.

Development

The airport has been undergoing major development projects that will continue to transform the airport. In 2008, the government agreed to significantly expand the domestic terminal, which will require the relocation of cargo facilities and the international terminal.

The construction of a second parallel runway began on March 1, 2014 on of an artificial island.[3]

The new international terminal opened in February 2014. The international terminal was again expanded by in November 2016. A new building connecting the domestic and international terminals was completed in 2019, the second runway began operation in March 26 2020.[4]

A LCCT terminal has been in operation since 2012. In addition, a 6-lane under bay tunnel for auto transport linking the airport with the Naha Port boosting the utility of the intermodal facility was completed in 2011. This tunnel will also link a 2.6hectare Free Trade Zone near the Airport with another 122hectare FTZ located at Nakagusuku Bay. Peach, a low-cost carrier (LCC) based at Kansai International Airport in Osaka, announced that it would establish its second hub at Naha in July 2014, which would initially have flights to Osaka, Fukuoka, Ishigaki and Taipei.[5] ANA Holdings, the parent company of both Peach and Vanilla Air, opened a new LCC terminal in a refurbished portion of the airport's cargo area in October 2012, and plans to open new international facilities in October 2014.[6]

Terminals

Airlines and destinations

Cargo service

All Nippon Airways operates an overnight cargo hub at Naha Airport, which receives inbound Boeing 767 freighter flights from key destinations in Japan, China and Southeast Asia between 1 and 4 a.m., followed by return flights between 4 and 6 a.m., allowing overnight service between these regional hubs as well as onward connections to other ANA and partner carrier flights.[7]

The hub began operations in 2009; by 2013 it served eight cities, and ANA had chartered a Nippon Cargo Airlines Boeing 747 freighter to handle demand on the trunk route from Narita International Airport.[8]

Accidents and incidents

Access

The airport is served by the Okinawa Urban Monorail (Yui Rail) which carries passengers from Naha Airport Station to the center of Naha, and to the terminal at Tedako-Uranishi Station in Urasoe. Bus service is also available to many parts of Okinawa Island.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Naha Airport. Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. 7 January 2017. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20161021205147/http://www.mlit.go.jp/common/001141840.pdf. 21 October 2016.
  2. https://aisjapan.mlit.go.jp/ AIS Japan
  3. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/24/national/politics-diplomacy/base-laden-okinawa-vies-become-tourism-magnet/#.XrOGB8B7mUk/
  4. Web site: Naha Airport to expand its international terminal . 2015-05-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150503055025/http://english.ryukyushimpo.jp/2015/04/30/18285/ . 2015-05-03 . live .
  5. News: Yoshikawa. Tadayuki. ja:ピーチ、那覇-福岡線開設 7月に第2ハブ稼働. http://www.aviationwire.jp/archives/31402. 22 January 2014. Aviation Wire. 21 January 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140125085245/http://www.aviationwire.jp/archives/31402. 25 January 2014. live.
  6. News: ja:ANA、那覇の国際線LCCターミナル公開 10日からピーチ使用. http://www.aviationwire.jp/archives/32097. 10 February 2014. Aviation Wire. 8 February 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140214192326/http://www.aviationwire.jp/archives/32097. 14 February 2014. live.
  7. Web site: Archived copy . 2013-07-17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130821203502/http://www.ana.co.jp/cargo/ja/int/catalog/pdf/ana_cargo_service_guide_forwarder.pdf . 2013-08-21 .
  8. News: ja:全日空「沖縄貨物ハブ」上昇気流 国内外で路線拡充. http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNZO58866900T20C13A8LX0000/. 26 August 2013. . ja . 24 August 2013.
  9. Web site: ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63AF N785FT Okinawa-Naha AFB (AHA) . 2022-12-19 . aviation-safety.net.
  10. Book: AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT . 1971-12-29 . . en.
  11. News: ANA jet aborts take-off after SDF copter cuts across its path at Naha airport. 5 June 2015. Japan Today. 4 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150728131633/http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/ana-jet-aborts-take-off-after-sdf-copter-cuts-across-its-path-at-naha-airport. 28 July 2015. live.
  12. Web site: Incident: JAL B772 at Okinawa on Dec 4th 2020, engine shut down in flight after uncontained failure, parts of engine cowl dropped.