Miho Airbase 美保飛行場 Yonago Airport (米子空港) | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public / Military | ||||||||||
| Operator | JASDF | ||||||||||
| Serves | Yonago, Tottori,Japan | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 13 ft / 4 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 35°29′36″N133°14′21″E / 35.49333°N 133.23917°E /35.49333; 133.23917 | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  YGJ/RJOH Location in Tottori Prefecture Show map of Tottori Prefecture YGJ/RJOH Location in Japan Show map of Japan | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2015) | |||||||||||
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| Source: JapaneseMinistry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism[1] | |||||||||||
Miho Airbase (美保飛行場) (IATA:YGJ,ICAO:RJOH), also known asYonago Airport andYonago Kitaro Airport is aJapan Air Defense Force (JASDF) base located 11 km northwest ofYonago inTottori Prefecture. It is owned and operated by JASDF andshares the runway with civil activities.
The airport was built as anImperial Japanese Army Air Force airfield duringWorld War II, and was attacked byUSAAFB-24 Liberator bombers during July 1945. After the war, the airfield was taken over by theBritish Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) in Japan. TheRoyal Australian Air ForceNo. 5 Airfield Construction Squadron refurbished the airfield, andNo. 77 Squadron was stationed at the airfield until 1950.
In December 1950, theUnited States Air Force452d Bombardment Wing movedB-26 Invader light bombers toMiho Air Base. They moved toPusan East (K-9) Air Base, South Korea in May 1951 for combat duty during the Korean War. The only other operational USAF unit to use the airfield was the17th Bombardment Wing, which also flew B-26s from the field between October 1954 and March 1955 before returning to the United States.
Miho Air Base was used primarily as a radar station by the 618th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron beginning in December 1950, operating defensive radar sites as part of the air defense of Japan until May 1957. The 6135th Support Squadron maintained airfield facilities and a small ground station. TheAir Weather Service 15th Weather Squadron also used the airfield, along with transientC-47 Skytrain transports carrying supplies and personnel. USAF units were withdrawn and Miho Air Base was returned to Japanese control in May 1957 as part of a general drawdown of American forces in Japan.
TheJapan Air Self Defense Force has operated a number of transports at Miho Air Base includingCurtiss C-46 Commando andNAMC YS-11 aircraft.
During 23–25 October 2015, a BritishRoyal Air Force (RAF)A400M Atlas transport aircraft visited Miho Air Base. It was the first time for an RAF aircraft to land at a JASDF base.[2]
On March 29, 2018, aUH-1J of theJapan Ground Self-Defense Force made an emergency landing at the base after an emergency light flashed. No one was injured. The helicopter had been on the way from its base at Nihonbara inOkayama Prefecture to fight a fire in the mountains ofShimane Prefecture.[3][4]
TheJapan Coast Guard established an air station at Miho in 1978 and has operatedBell 212,Bell 412 (1996) andAgustaWestland AW139 (2009) helicopters andBombardier DHC-8 (2011) fixed-wing aircraft there.
A passenger terminal was built at the airport in 1956 and scheduled service toOsaka International Airport began in 1958, followed byTokyoHaneda Airport in 1964. The airport has also at various times had service to Nagoya (Chubu and Komaki), Sapporo (New Chitose),Kansai International Airport, Fukuoka and Oki.
A runway extension and terminal renovation were completed in 1996, and international service toIncheon International Airport (Seoul) began in 2001.
In summer 2013, the airport accommodated charter flights fromHong Kong onHong Kong Airlines, bringing tourists to the surroundingSan'in region as well asOsaka andHiroshima. The flights reachedload factors of 86.8% and were scheduled to resume in the winter tourist season.[6]
Skymark Airlines began service from Yonago to Narita and Kobe in December 2013, and has announced that it will begin service from Yonago to Haneda, Sapporo and Okinawa beginning in April 2014. However Skymark exits Yonago in 2015 due to bankruptcy.[7]
| Airlines | Destinations |
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| Air Seoul | Seoul–Incheon[8] |
| All Nippon Airways | Tokyo–Haneda |
| ANA Wings | Tokyo–Haneda |
| Tigerair Taiwan | Taipei–Taoyuan[9][10] |
The airport is connected to various locations by bus. There is also arailway line, theSakai Line, in the vicinity, which connects the airport with theYonago Station andSakaiminato Station.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
1 Joint civil-military use | |||||||||||||||||||
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