Sado Airport

Sado Airport

佐渡空港
Sado Airport; 佐渡空港
	IATA: SDS; ICAO: RJSD;
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Niigata Prefecture
Location	Sado, Japan
Elevation AMSL	75 ft / 23 m
Coordinates	38°03′40″N 138°24′51″E / 38.06111°N 138.41417°E
Map
	RJSD Location in Japan RJSD RJSD (Japan)
Runways
Statistics (2015)
Passengers
Passengers	62
Cargo (metric tonnes)	0
Aircraft movement	1,190
	Source: Japanese AIP at AIS Japan; Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

Sado Airport (Japanese: 佐渡空港) (IATA: SDS, ICAO: RJSD) is a public aerodrome located in Sado, Niigata Prefecture, Japan.

History

The airport opened in 1959 as a landing field (場外離着陸場) to provide air service connecting Sado Island to Niigata Airport, and was expanded in 1971 to allow more extensive general aviation service. Service to and from Sado Airport has been indefinitely suspended since April 2014. New Japan Aviation provided scheduled service until the airport's closure, although other scheduled operators have served the airport in the past.^[3] Kyokushin Air operated the Sado-Niigata route until September 2008.

The "Sado New Air Route Promotion Council" (Est.1985) has expressed an interest and advocated for extending the runway at Sado Airport to 2,000 meters. This extension is aimed at accommodating jet service and expanding flight destinations, including Tokyo-Haneda and Osaka-Itami. However, as of yet, no concrete plans for the expansion of the runway have been made by the prefecture.^[4]

Sado Airport started upgrading its facilities in November 2022 to accommodate larger aircraft. These upgrades include enhancements to the runway surface, taxiways, and terminal areas to better handle increased passenger traffic and the operational demands of larger aircraft. These enhancements are directly related to the Japanese low-cost airline, Toki Air, expressing interest into establishing routes to Sado Airport.^[5]^[6]

Airlines and destinations

Toki Air is looking to connect Sado to Niigata Airport and Tokyo Narita. These services, would mark the first scheduled flights to Sado since April 2014, when New Japan Aviation ceased operations. The inaugural route is expected to be Sado–Narita, commencing in the 2025 summer season.^[7]

However, Sado Airport’s 890-meter runway presents challenges for Toki Air’s ATR 42-600 fleet, which lacks the enhanced short-field performance of the (now) cancelled ATR 42-600S STOL variant. Operational adjustments, such as payload restrictions, may be needed, potentially impacting capacity and frequency. Despite these hurdles, Toki Air appears to remain committed to launching routes to the island.^[8]