Nagasaki Airport 長崎空港 Nagasaki Kūkō | |||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Civil Aviation Bureau | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Nagasaki Prefecture | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Ōmura,Nagasaki Prefecture,Japan | ||||||||||||||
| Opened | May 1, 1975; 50 years ago (1975-05-01) | ||||||||||||||
| Hub for | Oriental Air Bridge | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 8 ft / 2 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 32°55′01″N129°54′49″E / 32.91694°N 129.91361°E /32.91694; 129.91361 | ||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  NGS/RJFU Location in Nagasaki Prefecture Show map of Nagasaki Prefecture NGS/RJFU Location in Japan Show map of Japan | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2022) | |||||||||||||||
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| Source: JapaneseMinistry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism[1] | |||||||||||||||
Nagasaki Airport (長崎空港,Nagasaki Kūkō) (IATA:NGS,ICAO:RJFU) is an airport located off the coast ofŌmura,Nagasaki Prefecture,Japan. The airport was the first airport in the world to be built on the ocean, using an existing small island located in the center ofŌmura Bay, with land areas that were fully reclaimed.
Nagasaki Airport was built to replace the former airport calledOmura Airport, which was located on the mainland and had a shorter runway of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). The former airport was transferred to theJapan Self-Defense Force in 2011, and was renamed intoOmura Air Base.
Oriental Air Bridge, a regional airline is based at the airport.[2]
The mainland portion of the airport opened as anImperial Japanese Navy airfield in 1923, and served as the main base for the now defunct 21st Naval Air Base.[3][4] DuringWorld War II, several aircraft factories were constructed near the airfield and the base was used extensively for manufacturing and repairing many aircraft.[5] After the war, the airfield was converted into a civilian airport and was namedOmura Airport (大村空港) in 1955. The terminal building was completed four years later in 1959.[6][7]
All Nippon Airways began flying to Nagasaki fromFukuoka in May 1959.[8]
In the 1960s, Nagasaki Prefecture was considering building a new airport due to the shift in jet-powered aircraft and due to the number of flights increasing at the airport. Initially, the prefecture planned to expand the former airport, but the plan was abandoned, due to geographical issues.[6]The Prefecture decided to construct the new airport on Mishima Island (Japanese:箕島), an island located off the coast of the mainland inŌmura Bay. Before the construction began, 66 residents in 13 households lived on the island and after several years of persuasion from prefecture officials, all of them agreed to move out so that the new airport could be built.[6][9]
Construction of the new airport began in 1972 and took three years to complete. Constructing the airport required flattening parts of the island's hills and reclaiming land around its shore, expanding it from 0.9 to 1.54 km2 (0.35 to 0.59 sq mi).[4] Around the same time, the Mishima Ohashi Bridge (Japanese:箕島大橋), a 970 meter long bridge, which connects the island from the mainland was built. Construction of the new airport cost around 18 billion yen.[9][10]
The current island runway and terminal opened on May 1, 1975,[9] and became Japan's first full-scale airport built over water.[11] It was also the first airport in the world to be built on the ocean.[9][11][12]
Nagasaki's first international service, toShanghai, commenced in September 1979 and the main runway was extended from 2,500 m to its current length on the following year.[9][6]
On September 2, 1990, when the Nagasaki Travel Expo was being held in the city of Nagasaki, anAir FranceConcorde landed at Nagasaki Airport for the first time. An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 onlookers gathered at the airport, causing severe traffic jams.[13][14]
The mainland portion of the airport was abolished in 2011 and was transferred to theJapan Self-Defense Forces, where it was renamed intoOmura Air Base.[15]
Before the start of theCOVID-19 pandemic,Hong Kong Express andChina Eastern Airlines operated international flights to and fromHong Kong and Shanghai respectively. In February 2020, the two airlines suspended operations, and international flights at the airport temporarily ceased to exist. In October 2023, China Eastern Airlines resumed flights between Nagasaki and Shanghai after three years and eight months of absence.[16]
| Year | Total passengers[20] |
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| 1998 | 3,090,345 |
| 1999 | 3,056,828 |
| 2000 | 2,958,058 |
| 2001 | 2,846,646 |
| 2002 | 2,853,510 |
| 2003 | 2,834,289 |
| 2004 | 2,637,308 |
Several bus companies connect the airport from the cities of Nagasaki,Isahaya,Sasebo,Shimabara, and their surrounding stations.[21]
The airport ferry, which is operated byYasuda Sangyo Kisen [ja] connects the town ofTogitsu[22] and theHuis Ten Bosch theme park.[23]
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Media related toNagasaki Airport at Wikimedia Commons
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