New Chitose Airport guide

New Chitose Airport is the main gateway to Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island, located in the city of Chitose south of Sapporo. It opened on July 20, 1988, replacing the original Chitose Airport that had handled commercial flights there since 1963. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism owns the site; Hokkaido Airports Co., Ltd. operates it under a long-term concession.

Two civilian runways, each 3,000 metres long, handle passenger and cargo traffic. Two further runways belong to the adjacent Chitose Air Base and are shared with Japan Air Self-Defense Force fighter squadrons. The airport handled just under 24 million passengers and 144,408 tonnes of cargo in 2024. It is one of only six airports in Japan that operates around the clock, and the only one of the six located inland rather than on the coast.

Separate domestic and international terminal buildings sit on opposite sides of the complex, linked by a pedestrian bridge that takes about ten minutes to cross. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines anchor the domestic schedule, while Korean Air, Cathay Pacific and China Eastern Airlines connect the airport to East Asia. Skytrax named it the World's Most Improved Airport for 2024 after it climbed 53 places to 49th in the global rankings.