Chūbu Centrair International Airport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chūbu Centrair International Airport
中部国際空港
Chūbu Kokusai Kūkō

Image:CENTRAIR logo.PNG

IATA: NGO – ICAO: RJGG
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator CJIA Co., Ltd.
Location Nagoya, Japan
Elevation AMSL 5 m / 15 ft
Coordinates 34°51′30″N 136°48′19″E / 34.85833, 136.80528
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
18/36 3,500 11,483 Concrete/Asphalt
Source: DAFIF[1][2]

Chūbu Centrair International Airport (中部国際空港 Chūbu Kokusai Kūkō?) (IATA: NGO, ICAO: RJGG) is an airport on an artificial island in Ise Bay, Tokoname City in Aichi Prefecture, south of Nagoya in central Japan.

Centrair is classified as a first class airport and is the main international gateway for the Chūbu ("central") region of Japan. The name "Centrair" (セントレア Sentorea?) is an abbreviation of Central Japan International Airport, an alternate translation used in the English name of the airport's operating company, Central Japan International Airport Co., Ltd. (中部国際空港株式会社 Chūbu Kokusai Kūkō Kabushiki-gaisha?).

Some 12,351,136 people used the airport in the first year (2005), ranking 8th busiest in the nation. Passenger numbers should increase as the regional economy has been outpacing the nation for quite some time, and figures are for a partial year. 273,874 tons of cargo was moved in 2005.

Contents

[edit] History

Chūbu is Japan's third off-shore airport, after Nagasaki Airport and Kansai International Airport, and second airport on a manmade island. There are currently 5 offshore airports in Japan, including Kobe Airport and New Kitakyushu Airport.

With much lobbying by local business groups such as Toyota, especially for 24 hour cargo flights, construction started August 2000, with a budget of 768 billion yen (€5.5 billion, US$7.3 billion), but through efficient management nearly 100 billion yen was saved [1]. PentaOcean Construction was a major contractor.

In addition to cost cutting measures, a number of environmental protection measures had been taken after learning from Kansai International Airport. The artificial island itself was shaped like the rounded letter "D" so that sea currents inside the bay will flow freely. Its shores were partially constructed with natural rocks and sloped to aid sea lifeforms to set up colonies. During the construction a species of little tern occasionally came, so a part of it was selected and set aside to aid nesting.

When it opened on February 17, 2005, it took over almost all of the existing Nagoya Airport (now Nagoya Airfield)'s commercial flights, and relieved Tokyo and Kansai areas for cargo shipments. As a replacement for Nagoya Airport, it also inherited its IATA airport code NGO. The airport's opening anticipated the Expo 2005 in Aichi Prefecture. It will have some competition for passengers and cargo when Shizuoka Airport, currently under construction, opens.

Japan Airlines (JAL) was the first airline to land an aircraft at Centrair, a Boeing 767-300ER, carrying around 206 passengers onboard a charter flight from Saipan to commemorate the opening of Centrair.[3]

[edit] Future

Apron expansion began in 7 locations in 2006, scheduled to be done in 2010. A second 4000 meter runway is planned, with an extra 3 km2 of area, 300 meters from the existing runway, scheduled to be funded in 2008, costing 2 trillion yen. (about $17 billion).

[edit] Main terminal

Gate at Centrair
Gate at Centrair

The main terminal is shaped like a "T," with three piers radiating from a central ticketing area. This design keeps check-in to aircraft distances below 300 meters. Originally, designers planned to make the main terminal resemble an origami crane from above, but this plan was abandoned due to cost.

Arrivals are processed on the second floor, and departures on the third: the lower level is for maintenance, catering, and other ground operations, as well as for passenger buses to hardstands in the middle of the apron.

[edit] Airlines and Destinations

[edit] Passenger airlines (International)

[edit] Passenger airlines (Domestic)

  • ANA Group* (Akita, Asahikawa, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Hakodate, Ishigaki, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Matsuyama, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Naha, Niigata, Oita, Memanbetsu (Ozora**), Sapporo-Chitose, Sendai, Tokushima, Tokyo-Narita, Wakkanai [seasonal], Yonago)
  • Japan Airlines (Aomori, Fukuoka, Hanamaki, Nagasaki, Naha, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Kushiro, Sapporo-Chitose, Sendai, Tokyo-Narita)

* ANA Group includes All Nippon Airways, Air Japan, Air Nippon, Air Nippon Network and Air Central. All flights are coded ANA.

** Memanbetsu merged with the village of Higashikamoto to form Ozora in 2006.

[edit] Cargo airlines

[edit] Former airlines

[edit] Access

[edit] Train

Meitetsu's "Rapid Limited Express" trains
Meitetsu's "Rapid Limited Express" trains

Centrair is located on the Meitetsu Tokoname Line operated by Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu). The fastest "Rapid Limited Express" service connects the airport to Meitetsu Nagoya Station in 28 minutes. Meitetsu Nagoya is adjacent to JR Nagoya Station, allowing transfers to Shinkansen high-speed trains bound for Kyoto and Shizuoka, as well as JR, Meitetsu, and Kintetsu local trains, and the Nagoya Subway.

[edit] Bus

Scheduled bus service is available to a number of locations throughout central Japan, including:

  • Central Nagoya: 60 min., ¥1,000
  • Toyota: 1 hr. 10 min., ¥1,700
  • Toyohashi: 1 hr. 40 min., ¥2,200
  • Toba: 2 hr. 20 min., ¥2,520
  • Fukui: 3 hr., ¥3,300
  • Hamamatsu: 1 hr. 55 min., ¥3,000
  • Numazu: 4 hr., ¥5,000
  • Matsumoto: 3 hr. 40 min., ¥3,500
  • Nagano: 4 hr. 45 min., ¥4,000

[edit] Ferry

Three high-speed ferry services link Centrair to the west side of Ise Bay. One ferry connects to the passenger terminal in Tsu, a 40-minute trip costing ¥1,890. Another ferry links Toba to Tokoname, opposite the airport island, taking 1 hour 40 minutes and costing ¥1,700. The third ferry links Yokkaichi to the airport, a 30-minute trip costing ¥1,690.

Entrance to Centrair's 4th Floor Sky Town
Entrance to Centrair's 4th Floor Sky Town

[edit] Car

A toll road links Centrair and the mainland; the toll from central Nagoya is ¥1,800. Taxi fare to central Nagoya is approximately ¥12,000.

[edit] Shopping

Centrair features the 4th Floor Sky Town shopping center, accessible to the general public, with 61 shops and restaurants. organized into two "streets," Renga-dori and Chochin-yokocho. The Chochin-yokocho shops are individually themed to have an authentic Japanese look.

There is a Duty Free area in the international departure area on the 3rd floor as well.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Airport information for RJGG at World Aero Data. Source: DAFIF.
  2. ^ Airport information for NGO at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF.
  3. ^ Feb 10, 2005 GOODBYE & AND THANK YOU KOMAKI AIRPORT
  4. ^ http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/au/publicaffairs/details?ArticleID=2008/jun08/3771
  5. ^ http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/au/publicaffairs/details?ArticleID=2008/jun08/3771

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: