The Central Japan International Airport
Chūbu Centrair International Airport (Chūbu Kokusai Kūkō)
Centrair is classified as a first class airport and is the main international gateway for the Chūbu (”central”) region of Japan. The name “Centrair” is an abbreviation of Central Japan International Airport, an alternate translation used in the English name of the airport’s operating company, Central Japan International Airport Co., Ltd. ( Chūbu Kokusai Kūkō Kabushiki-gaisha)
Chūbu is Japan’s third off-shore airport, after Nagasaki Airport and Kansai International Airport, and second airport on a manmade island. There are currently 5 offshore airports in Japan, including Kobe Airport and New Kitakyushu Airport.
With much lobbying by local business groups such as Toyota, especially for 24 hour cargo flights, construction started August 2000, with a budget of 768 billion yen (€5.5 billion, US$7.3 billion), but through efficient management nearly 100 billion yen was saved. PentaOcean Construction was a major contractor.
In addition to cost cutting measures, a number of environmental protection measures had been taken after learning from Kansai International Airport. The artificial island itself was shaped like the rounded letter “D” so that sea currents inside the bay will flow freely. Its shores were partially constructed with natural rocks and sloped to aid sea lifeforms to set up colonies. During the construction a species of little tern occasionally came, so a part of it was selected and set aside to aid nesting.
When it opened on February 17, 2005, it took over almost all of the existing Nagoya Airport (now Nagoya Airfield)’s commercial flights, and relieved Tokyo and Kansai areas for cargo shipments. As a replacement for Nagoya Airport, it also inherited its IATA airport code NGO. The airport’s opening anticipated the Expo 2005 in Aichi Prefecture. It will have some competition for passengers and cargo when Shizuoka Airport, currently under construction, opens.
Japan Airlines (JAL) was the first airline to land an aircraft at Centrair, a Boeing 767-300ER, carrying around 206 passengers onboard a charter flight from Saipan to commemorate the opening of Centrair.
Monday, April 7th, 2008 @ 4:23 am 
Airports, Civil Engineering
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