Sapporo Okadama Airport (札幌丘珠空港, Sapporo Okadama Kūkō) (IATA: OKD, ICAO: RJCO) is an airport located in Okadama-chō, Higashi-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 4 NM (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) north[2] 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, 45 km (28 mi) south of the city. The airport is also used by the Japan Self-Defense Forces and by corporate and general aviation operators: an adjacent facility houses the air traffic control center for Hokkaido and the Tohoku region. The airport houses the headquarters of Hokkaido Air System.[3]

Sapporo Okadama Airport 札幌丘珠空港 Sapporo Okadama Kūkō
IATA: OKD ICAO: RJCO
Summary
Airport type	Public / Dual-use
Operator	Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
Serves	Sapporo
Location	Higashi-ku, Sapporo
Opened	1944 (1944)
Hub for	Hokkaido Air System
Elevation AMSL	26 ft / 8 m
Coordinates	43°07′03″N 141°22′53″E
Website	www.okadama-airport.co.jp
Map
RJCO Location in Hokkaidō Show map of Hokkaido RJCO Location in Japan Show map of Japan
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 14/32 1,500 4,921 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 175,846 Cargo (metric tonnes) 4 Aircraft movement 15,397
Source: Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism[1]

History

Okadama was constructed between 1942 and 1944 as an airfield for the Imperial Japanese Army. Following Japan's surrender to the United States in 1945, ending World War II, the United States Army Air Forces took over the airfield, using it as a training base until the end of the US occupation in 1952. Following the occupation, the field reverted to the Japan Self-Defense Forces.[4]

Scheduled civilian passenger operations began in June 1956 when North Japan Airlines (later Japan Domestic Airlines, Toa Domestic Airlines and Japan Air System) began service to Memanbetsu. All Nippon Airways began service to Okadama in 1966.[4] These airlines operated propeller service at the airport through the mid-1970s, chiefly using NAMC YS-11 turboprops. Although the airport's main runway was extended from 1,000 to 1,500 m in 1967, most scheduled traffic migrated to New Chitose Airport which was better equipped to handle larger jet aircraft.[5] In 1974, Toa ceased operations at Okadama and ANA established a new subsidiary, Air Nippon, to handle YS-11 flights at the airport. ANA later replaced its YS-11s with quieter Bombardier Dash 8 turboprops.

In 1995, the city of Sapporo proposed extending the runway to 2,000 m in order to allow jet service at Okadama. This plan met protests from neighboring residents, and was abandoned in 1996. In 1998, local residents agreed to an extension of the runway to 1,500 m in exchange for a cap of 44 daily takeoffs and landings.[5]

ANA, which accounted for 80% of passenger traffic at Okadama, ceased Okadama operations in 2010, leaving JAL affiliate Hokkaido Air System as the airport's only scheduled carrier.[5] The airport terminal (operated by a company 26% owned by the Sapporo government) operated at a slight profit until fiscal year 2009, but the departure of ANA group traffic drove its finances into a net loss.[6] HAC continues to serve the airport using Saab 340 turboprops which it has since been replaced by the ATR 42.

In November 2013, Fuji Dream Airlines operated a regional jet charter to Okadama from Komaki Airport in Nagoya, the first passenger jet service in the airport's history.[5]

Airlines and destinations

JGSDF units

• Northern Air Corps Headquarters (Beechcraft King Air 350)
• Northern Helicopter Corps (H-6, UH-1)
• No. 7 Division Airborne
• No. 11 Division Airborne

Ground transportation

Buses[8]

北37条東21丁目（旧・丘珠空港入口）- Kita 37-Jō Higashi 21-chome bus stop

It takes about 5 minutes on foot from Airport Terminal to this bus stop and the distance is about 200m.

北36条東27丁目 – Kita 36-Jō Higashi 27-chome bus stop

It takes about 10 minutes on foot from Airport Terminal to this bus stop and distance is about 700m.

Trains[8]

It takes 15 minutes on foot from the Airport Terminal to Subway Sakaemachi Station.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Okadama Airport.

• Okadama Airport, official homepage (in English)