New Ishigaki Airport Shin-Ishigaki Kūkō (新石垣空港) | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Operator | City of Ishigaki[1] | ||||||||||
| Serves | Ishigaki,Yaeyama Islands | ||||||||||
| Location | 1960-104-1Shiraho District,Ishigaki,Okinawa Prefecture,Japan | ||||||||||
| Opened | March 7, 2013; 12 years ago (2013-03-07) | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 102 ft / 31 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 24°23′47″N124°14′42″E / 24.39639°N 124.24500°E /24.39639; 124.24500 | ||||||||||
| Website | English website,Japanese website | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  ROIG  ROIG | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2015) | |||||||||||
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| Source: JapaneseMinistry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism[3] | |||||||||||
New Ishigaki Airport[Note 1] (IATA:ISG,ICAO:ROIG), also branded asPainushima Ishigaki Airport,[Note 2][Note 3] is a regional airport located in the Shiraho district ofIshigaki,Okinawa Prefecture,Japan.[1][4] The airport is located near the eastern coast ofIshigaki Island. It connects the island to major cities in Japan as well as destinations throughoutOkinawa Prefecture and theYaeyama Islands. New Ishigaki Airport was built to replace the formerIshigaki Airport, which the shorter runway of only 1,500 metres (4,900 ft), could not accommodate larger jets and the airport was surrounded with buildings and residential area.
Operations at the old Ishigaki Airport ceased at midnight on March 6, 2013, and New Ishigaki Airport opened on March 7, 2013.[5]
Yaeyama Islands are in the spotlight as World Heritage islands and year-round tropical resort destination, and the airport serves more than 2.6 million people each year. Congestion at the airport has become a serious problem, so construction was completed to triple the size of the international terminal in 2022. The city authorities andOkinawa Prefecture are planning to extend the runway to 2,800 meters to meet the flight requests of airlines.
New Ishigaki Airport is located on the eastern shore of Ishigaki Island (221 square kilometres (85 sq mi)).[6] The island is located approximately 430 kilometres (270 mi) southwest ofOkinawa Island. The Yaeyama Islands were traditionally controlled from the southern district of the island, and remains the chief island of the group.
The airport serves as a transportation hub for the surroundingMiyako,Yonaguni,Hateruma, andTarama islands. The airport additionally connects Ishigaki toTokyo (viaHaneda Airport),Nagoya,Osaka,Hiroshima, andFukuoka.[7][8] Ishigaki is only a 40-minute flight fromTaiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) inTaiwan.[9] Ishigaki currently hosts seasonal flights to Taiwan.
New Ishigaki Airport sits 31 metres (102 ft) above sea level in the Shiraho district of Ishigaki.[7] The airport is located approximately 30 minutes by car from central Ishigaki City (i.e., Ishigaki Harbor).[10]
New Ishigaki Airport covers 143 hectares (350 acres).[11] It consists of a single runway, 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) in length and 45 metres (148 ft) in width. The airport has a single terminal with a total floor space of 12,560 square metres (135,200 sq ft). The first floor of the terminal is used for check-in and baggage claim. The second floor is used as an entrance, the third floor for facilities management, and the fourth floor as an observation deck.[12] New Ishigaki Airport operates 11 hours a day, between 8 am and 7 pm.[11]
Under theAirport Law of 1956 New Ishigaki Airport was originally classified as a Regional Airport (the old airport was classified as Third Class airport). According to a September 4, 2013, front-page article in the Yaeyama Mainichi Shinbun (one of the newspapers in Ishigaki), the airport is now classified as an International Airport, which means that Taiwanese carriers will change from a system of providing what they call "regular charter flights" to offering regular scheduled flights.[13]
New Ishigaki Airport was constructed by government of Okinawa Prefecture at a cost of 45.1 trillion yen[citation needed][dubious –discuss] and is now owned and operated by theCity of Ishigaki. The airport has 24 tenants, mainly locally operated restaurants and souvenir shops.[1]
Before the current Ishigaki Airport open,Ishigaki Airport was the airport serving the city which was originally built duringWorld War II as a military airstrip by theImperial Japanese Army.[Note 4][12][11] Korean laborers were used for the construction of the military airstrip.[14] The airstrip was built in the Maezato and Ōhama districts of Ishigaki, and opened in September 1942. The airstrip was used for the deployment of kamikaze units to attack American ships anchored off Okinawa Island during theBattle of Okinawa.[15]
After World War II the airstrip was repaired, and eventually converted to joint civilian/military use in 1956, and commercial flights to Ishigaki began on June 16 of that year.[7][14][16] The new airport was built to replace Ishigaki Airport, which had a runway of only 1,500 metres (4,900 ft), and could generally accommodate small jets, typically a 150-passengerBoeing 737.[7] The initial plan called for an airport to be built on extensive landfill off the eastern shore of the island in the Shiraho district. Plans for a new airport on the Ishigaki Island date back to 1979.[9]
Residents of Shiraho opposed the construction of New Ishigaki Airport, among other reasons, due to concerns about the destruction of theShiraho Coral Reef. The 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) reef is home to over 120 species of coral, and is one of the most diverse coral reefs in Japan, and is named as one of the "Global 200" coral reefs by theWorld Wildlife Fund. The Shiraho district and its reef is protected as part ofIriomote-Ishigaki National Park (205.69 square kilometres (79.42 sq mi)), which covers both the land and marine areas of much of the Yaeyama Islands. The Shiraho reef is particularly vulnerable to destruction byred clay discharged from small rivers and other discharge from Ishigaki Island. This plan was abandoned in 1989.[17]
A second plan, which was ultimately adopted, called for the airport to be built inland from the coast, using both agricultural land and excavating a section fromKaradake, a prominent 135.9 metres (446 ft) hill on the relatively flat landscape of Ishigaki Island. Construction on the new airport started in 2006 with the excavation of Karadake. 270,000 ha² of soil from Karadake were removed, significantly changing the appearance of the landscape of Shiraho. The excavation of Karadake posed a continuing threat to the Shiraho coral reef. The hill is composed of red clay, and discharge of soil from the excavation presented a serious threat of destruction of the reef.[9][18]
Human remains, now known as theShiraho Saonetabaru Cave Ruins, were discovered at the site shortly after construction began on the airport. Bones from human heads, feet, arms were found and dated to thePaleolithic Age, and are approximately 24,000 years old.[19][20][21] The remains may be the oldest human remains found in Japan. Work at the archaeological site ended with the opening of the airport in 2013.[19][20][21]
As a promotion prior to the opening of the airport and the locally produced Ishigaki beef, a giantkebab was constructed on the construction area of the new airport. Assembly of the kebab required the effort of 1,700 residents and tourists, and ultimately measured 107.6 metres (353 ft) in length. The kebab was certified aGuinness World Record, beating out the former record-holder constructed inLebanon.[22][23]
New Ishigaki Airport is designated a Regional Airport (地方管理空港,Chihō Kanri Kūkō) under theAirport Law of Japan.[11] An opening ceremony for the airport was held on March 2, 2013.[5] Operations at Ishigaki Airport ceased at midnight on March 6, 2013, and airport equipment such as luggage carts and handling equipment were trucked across the island overnight. New Ishigaki Airport officially started operations at 12 a.m., March 7, 2013.[10][16]
New Ishigaki Airport is connected to other areas of Ishigaki Island by bus and taxi. Ishigaki is served by the Azuma Bus Company.[31] Additionally, a rental car service is available at the airport.[32] The airport sits along Okinawa Prefectural Route 39, which crosses the eastern and southern coast of the island.[33]
Media related toNew Ishigaki Airport at Wikimedia Commons
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