International flight restrictions have been lifted for Ibaraki Airport, allowing for the expansion of international flight services to/from the airport located north of Tokyo.
International flight restrictions have been lifted for Ibaraki Airport, allowing for the expansion of international flight services to/from the airport located north of Tokyo.
First reported by TRAICY, Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MOLITT), Ministry of Defense, and Ibaraki Prefecture made the move to end the flight restrictions effective August 7. It follows the request by Ibaraki Prefecture Governor Kazuhiko Oigawa made on July 18 for the removal of the restrictions.
Due to Ibaraki Airport also serving as the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's Hyakuri Air Base, international flights were not allowed to operate at the airport during scheduled periods during the week – 0730H-1200H every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, 1330H-2100H every Monday, 2000H-2100H every Tuesday and Thursday, and the whole day on Wednesday. The time period between an international flight departure and the arrival of the next flight was one-hour, along with a 1-hour operation limit.
While the restrictions have been lifted, the overnight parking restrictions will remain.
Located around 80km (~50 miles) north of Tokyo and 60km (~ 40 miles) north of Narita Airport in Ibaraki Prefecture, the Ibaraki Airport has direct flights to domestic destinations in Japan operated by Skymark Airlines to Fukuoka, Kobe, Naha, and Sapporo-Chitose. In addition, international flights are operated to cities in South Korea (Cheongju – Aero K), Mainland China (Spring Airlines- Shanghai Pudong, Xi'an), and Taiwan (Tigerair Taiwan – Taipei Taoyuan).
Following the lifting of international flight restrictions, the Ibaraki prefectural government has also been planning for an expansion of the airport facilities which include the construction of taxiways, expansion of the aircraft parking apron and the passenger terminal building.
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