Chubu Centrair International Airport

Chubu Centrair International Airport (Japanese: 中部国際空港 Chūbu Kokusai Kūkō), also known as Central Japan International Airport (CENTRAIR, Japanese: セントレア), is an airport on an artificial island in Ise Bay, Tokoname City in Aichi Prefecture, south of Nagoya, Japan. It is named after the surrounding Chubu region. It opened on February 17, 2005. As a replacement for Nagoya Airport, it inherited its IATA airport code NGO. Its ICAO airport code is RJGG. Central Japan International Airport Co.,Ltd. operates the airport. The Japanese government classifies Chubu as a first class airport.

Chubu is Japan's third off-shore airport, after Nagasaki Airport and Kansai International Airport in Osaka. When it opened on February of 2005, it took over all of the existing Nagoya Airport's commercial flights. The airport's opening anticipated the Expo 2005 in Aichi Prefecture.

The construction started August 2003, with a budget of 768 billion yen (€5.5 billion, $7.3 billion), but through efficient management nearly 100 billion was saved [1].

In addition to cost cutting measures, a number of environmental protection measures had been taken. The artificial island itself was shaped like 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.

Main Terminal

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.

Airlines serving or planning to serve Chubu

Passenger airlines(International)

• Air Canada (Vancouver)
• Air China (Beijing,Chongqing via Shanghai)
• Air New Zealand (Auckland)
• All Nippon Airways (Seoul)
• American Airlines (Chicago O'Hare)
• Asiana Airlines (Seoul)
• Australian Airlines (Sydney via Cairns)
• Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong, Taipei)
• China Airlines (Taipei)
• China Eastern Airlines (Xi'an via Shanghai)
• China Southern Airlines (Dalian)
• Continental Micronesia (Guam, Honolulu)
• Garuda Indonesia (Denpasar)
• JALways (Guam, Honolulu)
• Japan Airlines (Bangkok, Beijing, Busan, Guam, Guangzhou, Manila, Paris,Seoul, Shanghai, Tianjin, Narita(Tokyo;Connection to International Lines)
• Japan Asia Airways (Taipei)
• Korean Air (Busan, Jeju, Seoul)
• Lufthansa (Frankfurt)
• Malaysian Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)
• Northwest Airlines (Detroit, Manila, Saipan)
• Philippine Airlines (Manila)
• Singapore Airlines (Singapore)
• Thai Airways International (Bangkok)
• United Airlines (Chicago O'Hare, San Francisco)

Passenger airlines (Domestic)

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

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

Cargo airlines

• FedEx
• Nippon Cargo Airlines

Access

Train

Centrair is located on the Meitetsu Tokoname Line operated by the Nagoya Railroad. 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.

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. 55 min., ¥2,200
• Toba: 2 hr. 10 min., ¥2,300
• Hamamatsu: 2 hr., ¥3,000
• Nagano: 4 hr. 5 min., ¥4,000

Ferry

Two high-speed ferry services link Centrair to the west side of Ise Bay. One ferry operates between Tsu to the passenger terminal, a 40-minute trip costing ¥1,890. The other ferry links Toba to Tokoname, opposite the airport island, taking 1 hour 40 minutes and costing ¥1,500.

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.

External links

• Chubu Centrair International Airport in Wikitravel
• Centrair home page (English)
• Centrair home page (Japanese)
• Aerial view of Chubu International Airport
• Centrair: Gateway to the Net