Chubu Centrair International Airport

History

Chubu Centrair is one of Japan's five off-shore airports, developed after Nagasaki Airport and Kansai International Airport and before Kobe Airport and Kitakyushu Airport. Chubu Centrair is the second airport built in Japan on a manmade island, after Kansai International Airport.

Chubu Centrair serves the third largest metropolitan area in Japan, centered around the city of Nagoya. The region is a major manufacturing centre, with the headquarters and production facilities of Toyota Motor Corporation and production facilities for Mitsubishi Motors and Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation.

With much lobbying by local business groups such as Toyota, especially for 24-hour cargo flights, construction started August 2000, with a budget of JPY¥768 billion (€5.5 billion, US$7.3 billion), but through efficient management nearly ¥100 billion was saved. Penta-Ocean 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 the island was selected and set aside to aid nesting.

According to Japanese media sources, Kodo-kai, a Yakuza faction in the Yamaguchi-gumi group, earned an immense amount of money by being the sole supplier, via a front company called Samix, of dirt, rock, sand, and gravel for the airport construction project. Although several Samix executives were criminally indicted for racketeering, the prosecutions were later dropped. According to the sources, Kodo-kai had informants working within the Nagoya police who fed the organization inside information which allowed them to stay a step ahead of investigating authorities.

When Chubu Centrair opened on 17 February 2005, it took over almost all of the existing Nagoya Airport's (now Nagoya Airfield) commercial flights, and relieved Tokyo and Kansai areas of cargo shipments. As a replacement for Nagoya Airport, it also inherited its IATA airport code NGO. The airport opened in time to service the influx of visitors for Expo 2005, located near Nagoya. The airport is speculated to have some competition with Shizuoka Airport, which opened on 4 June 2009.

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

Route withdrawals

There were several withdrawals from Chubu Centrair after the airport commenced its operation. American Airlines operated a route to Chicago for less than seven months in 2005, but said the service was "not as profitable as we had hoped". In 2008, after a few years of service from Chubu Centrair, several airlines cancelled certain flights and put others on hiatus, including Malaysia Airlines' suspension of flight to Kuala Lumpur, Jetstar ending its airport operation, Continental Airlines stopping its Honolulu flight and United Airlines' suspension of flights to San Francisco, citing low premium cabin demand. Emirates and Hong Kong Express Airways retreated from the airport in 2009, although the latter resumed service from September 2014. Garuda Indonesia and EVA Air (regular flights only) left the airport in 2012. V Air will withdraw from Centrair and end operations in October 2016.

Main terminal

The main terminal is shaped like a "T", with three piers radiating from a central ticketing area. This design keeps check-in distances below 300 m (980 ft). Originally, designers planned to make the main terminal resemble an origami crane from above, but this plan was abandoned due to cost.

The northern side of the terminal holds domestic flights, while the southern side holds international flights, each with dedicated ticket counters, security checkpoints and baggage carousels, and for international flights, immigration and customs facilities. Arrivals are processed on the second floor, and departures on the third. The lower level is used for maintenance, catering, and other ground operations, as well as for passenger buses to hardstands in the middle of the airport ramp. There are thirteen gates for domestic flights (including three bus gates), and fourteen for international flights (including three bus gates).

Train

Central Japan International Airport Station, the train station for Centrair is located on the Meitetsu Airport Line operated by Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu). The fastest "μSky 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 Municipal Subway. There is a proposal for a JR line linking Centrair to Nagoya Station and the JR system through Taketoyo Line's Okkawa Station.

Bus

Centrair Limousine provides direct bus service to and from central Nagoya, Sakae, and major hotels (with stops at Fushimi‐cho, Hilton Nagoya, Nagoya Kanko Hotel, Sakae, and Nagoya Tokyu Hotel). Travel time is around 1 hour, and the charge is 1,000 yen for adults and 500 yen for children. Reservations are not required. And operated by private bus company in Mie Prefecture, High-speed bus to the neighboring prefectures, the bus of 3,000yen to Kyoto via Mie Prefecture has been operating.

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. Another ferry links Matsusaka to Tokoname, taking 45 minutes.

Car

A toll road links Centrair and the mainland.

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.

Accolades