Hyakuri Airfield/Ibaraki Airport Hyakuri Air Base 百里飛行場 Hyakuri Hikōjō
IATA: IBR – ICAO: RJAH
Summary
Airport type		Military Civilian joint use
Operator		JASDF
Location		Omitama, Ibaraki, Japan
Elevation AMSL		107 ft / 33 m
Coordinates		36°10′54″N 140°24′53″E / 36.18167°N 140.41472°E / 36.18167; 140.41472 (Hyakuri Airfield)Coordinates: 36°10′54″N 140°24′53″E / 36.18167°N 140.41472°E / 36.18167; 140.41472 (Hyakuri Airfield)
Website		IBARAKI AIRPORT
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
03L/21R	2,700	8,858	Concrete
03R/21L	2,700	8,858	Concrete
Source: Source: Japanese AIP at AIS Japan

Location of Ibaraki Airport

Ibaraki Airport is an airport in the city of Omitama, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It also serves as air base for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force under the name Hyakuri Air Base. The airport was known as Hyakuri Airfield (百里飛行場, Hyakuri Hikōjō) prior to March 2010, when civil aviation operations began. The airport is located about 53 mi (85 km) north of Tokyo, and is intended to serve as a low-cost alternative to Tokyo's larger Narita and Haneda airports. Approximately two million people who live in the vicinity (the northeast fringes of Tokyo) will be able to benefit and bypass Tokyo air traffic for certain flights. It may be developed into a low cost carrier hub.

History

The airfield was first developed by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1937, with much of the land claimed from local farmers under the orders of Emperor Hirohito. After the end of World War II, the locals reclaimed the land and resumed farming. The base was reopened in 1956 by the Japan Self-Defense Forces, which took control of the land once again. Many farmers who live around the base have refused to sell their lands to the government to enable expansion of the airfield.

In March 2010, after a 22 billion yen ($243 million) local and national government investment, the airfield was renamed to Ibaraki Airport, and civil aviation operations began. At the time of opening, Ibaraki offered two flights, an Asiana service to Seoul, South Korea, and to Kobe in western Japan, by Skymark Airlines. The original plans for a three-story terminal with separate arrivals, departures, and sightseeing levels was scrapped by the governor of Ibaraki Prefecture, Masaru Hashimoto, who ordered the building to be reduced to one story in height, to reduce costs. The airport will eschew jetways, with passengers boarding planes from the tarmac. Additional cost-cutting measures, intended to allow the airport to charge lower landing fees than those at Narita and Haneda, include the use of aircraft parking procedures that reduce or eliminate the need for pushback tractors, and the possibility of having the passengers carry their own luggage to the aircraft, a practice used at some regional airports in the United States.

Interest in the airport has been expressed by the Malaysian carrier Air Asia X as well as Korean airline Asiana, but only the latter has committed to flying out of the airport on a fixed basis. TransAsia Airways has committed to flights to and from Taipei's Taoyuan Airport on a semi-regular basis from March to May. During the May holiday, charters to Guam, Cebu, Bali, and Hainan will operate out of the airport. Also, China-based low-cost carrier Spring Airlines has chosen this airport as its Tokyo-area destination with its recent approval for international flying. It will run three flights a week from Shanghai-Pudong starting from the end of July at the earliest for two months as a charter, switching to scheduled flights at the end of the two-month period (estimated to be around the end of the World Expo). However, it has started selling seats on the charters in the same manner as a normal flight since September, much like the early Hongqiao-Haneda "scheduled charters".

Airlines and destinations

Ground transportation

Buses

Buses connect Ibaraki Airport with various train stations in Ibaraki prefecture to Tokyo station :

• Ishioka Station on the JR Joban Line is the closest serviced station by bus.[2], from there, journey time to Tokyo station is one hour 40 minutes to two and half hours by railway, depending on exact route.

• One can also go points northward by bus from the airport bus connection to Mito Station (Ibaraki).[3] or to Narita Airport via Kashima Rinkai Railway from Mito.

Japan Air Self-Defense Force

F-15J Eagle of the JASDF 7th Air Wing at Hyakuri Airshow.

Central Air Defense Force

• 7th Air Wing
  • 302nd Tactical Fighter Squadron (F-4EJ Kai Phantom II,T-4)
  • 305th Tactical Fighter Squadron (F-15 Eagle,T-4)

Air Defense Command

• Tactical Reconnaissance Group
  • 501st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (RF-4E,RF-4EJ,T-4)

Air Support Command

• Hyakuri Air Rescue Wing (UH-60J, U-125A)

The content above was published at Airports-Worldwide.com in 2010.
We don't guarantee the information is fresh and accurate. The data may be wrong or outdated.
For more up-to-date information please refer to other sources.