Ishigaki Airport

Ishigaki Airport

Ishigaki Jima Airport

石垣空港

Ishigaki Kūkō
Ishigaki Airport; Ishigaki Jima Airport; 石垣空港; Ishigaki Kūkō
	IATA: ISG; ICAO: ROIG;
Summary
Operator	Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Location	Ishigaki, Okinawa, Japan
Elevation AMSL	86 ft / 26 m
Coordinates	24°20′41″N 124°11′13″E / 24.34472°N 124.18694°E
Runways
	Source: Japanese AIP at AIS Japan

Ishigaki Airport (石垣空港, Ishigaki Kūkō), (IATA: ISG, ICAO: ROIG) is a third-class airport located 1 NM (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) from Ishigaki city centre in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The airport fields flights to major cities on the Japanese mainland as well as destinations throughout Okinawa Prefecture and the Yaeyama Islands.

History

The airport was opened in 1943 for military use, and converted to a civilian airport in 1956. The runway was extended from 1,200 to 1,500 m (3,937 to 4,921 ft) in 1968, allowing YS-11 aircraft to land.

Future

The airport presently serves about 1.8 million passengers a year, making it the busiest third-class airport in Japan^[2], and traffic has been growing steadily as the Yaeyama Islands have become a popular tourist destination. However, the current runway cannot accommodate planes larger than a Boeing 737, and the present site is not suitable for expansion due to urban encroachment. The airport also does not have facilities for handling standard cargo containers.

To meet these needs, New Ishigaki Airport (新石垣空港, Shin-Ishigaki Kūkō) is under construction on the eastern side of the island. Plans for the new airport date back to 1979, when the prefectural government planned to build a 2,500 m (8,202 ft) runway by the shore at Shiraho (白保).

The new airport will have a 2,000 m (6,562 ft) runway, expandable to 2,500 m (8,202 ft). Construction started in October 2006, for completion by 2013.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
All Nippon Airways	Naha
Japan Airlines operated by Japan Transocean Air	Osaka-Kansai, Kobe, Miyakojima, Naha, Tokyo-Haneda, Yonaguni
Japan Transocean Air operated by Ryukyu Air Commuter	Miyako, Yonaguni
Mandarin Airlines	Taipei [seasonal charters]

References

^ AIS Japan
^ "Heisei 17 nen Kūkō Kanri Joukyou Chousho (Annal Reports of Airports management 2005)" (PDF) (in Japanese). 2006. p. 83. Retrieved 2007-02-27. {{cite web}}: External link in |authorlink= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

External links

Ishigaki Airport
New Ishigaki Airport (in Japanese)
Ishigaki Airport Guide from Japan Airlines
Current weather for ROIG at NOAA/NWS
Accident history for ISG at Aviation Safety Network

[AIP-1] AIS Japan

[2] "Heisei 17 nen Kūkō Kanri Joukyou Chousho (Annal Reports of Airports management 2005)" (PDF) (in Japanese). 2006. p. 83. Retrieved 2007-02-27. {{cite web}}: External link in |authorlink= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

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