Airport staff wave as a plane departs for Fukuoka from Mt Fuji Shizuoka Airport on Thursday.
SANKEI

Japan's 98th airport opens in Shizuoka amid grim outlook

Thursday 04th June, 01:27 PM JST

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flyingfish at 05:29 PM JST - 4th June

you can argue either way about no of airports ..i personally think having shizuoka/ibaraki new airports,but theres no point having them without deregulation of the airline industry in japan... just like in europe these regional airports could really boom if they embraced the cheap carriers from asia etc..(this is slowly happening 3man return to manila in obon!!) but it wont take off unless price controls are removed... then these airports could be a really good thing and great for the surrounding area as well
soldave at 05:38 PM JST - 4th June

ebisen: Personally I'd take the Shin for its novel value and the fact that, being in Okinawa, I have to take planes to get anywhere. If I had the time I'd take the car and do it as a long road trip. To go from top to bottom of Okinawa only takes a few small hours.
hoserfella at 05:58 PM JST - 4th June

As for the airport, pitiful Japanese pork barrel politics at its worst.
smithinjapan at 07:58 PM JST - 4th June

Tahoochi: "With 94 out of 97 airports operating in the red, why add another one???"

Simple. Construction companies give the government HUGE 'donations', and the government in turn gives them the green light to build an airport. The government doesn't pay, the taxpayer does, so who cares? What's more, they get to brag to their constituents about how they are building a 'strong new airport to rival the others'. You should have seen how badly the mayor of Kobe was pushing for THAT airport, even though it's so close to Kansai International. She said she needed to 'restore the pride of Kobe and show it's a dominant port town'.

"How are they going to operate efficiently enough to not lose profit and cause more debt (tax)?"

They're not. Just like all the highways, YOU are going to pay off the balance through taxes. Most major expressways are 90% in the red every year. The rest of the money comes from... damn I've said it already.

"Also, even if they operate in the black, wouldn't they take passengers away from other near-by airports like Chubu?"

They would indeed. But let's not forget that Chubu built their airport with the INTENT of taking customers away from both Narita and Kansai by offering cheaper landing costs (given that Japan has the highest landing costs in the world -- something like 7 out of the top ten, including at least first and second). Hell... Kansai International has been in the red since it was built, and yet they STILL insisted on building a second runway, despite other nations suggesting they would cancel flights (which they have).

Half of it is pride, the rest is bribery.
whitepocky at 10:32 PM JST - 4th June

Australia has 322 paved airports.

Most of which I would imagine are gateways for the local community, read flying doctors. If you've ever travelled around Australia, you'll realise it can take hours and hours just to the next town.

pitiful Japanese pork barrel politics at its worst.

How the Japanese put up with this crap is beyond me. Notice how come February/March, every construction company in the land is busy at work wasting the last of the constituents funds. All these taxes for what!!

just like in europe these regional airports could really boom if they embraced the cheap carriers from asia etc

That would never happen. The bureaucrats do not want the Japanese to spend their money elsewhere. If a cheap fight to Manilla was introduced, do you think ticket prices for the bullet train would be sustainable.

The government seem to have the general public by the balls. Mr & Mrs Tanaka are to timid to kick up a fuss and so these bureaucratic wankers will go on spending money they don't have. The same can be said for companies here. The balance sheet seems to concentrate on funds coming in, ignoring out going payments, hence running into the red.

Truly mind boggling politics!!
usaexpat at 11:41 PM JST - 4th June

I don't know the Shizuoka area, is there enough population to support the airport in the first place? I know that Nagsaki's airport is hardly what you would call busy. Much like this it's "International" but you can only fly to Korea. In my estimation the timing is also terrible with the recession and people cutting back business and leisure travel.
mushroomcloud at 02:31 AM JST - 5th June

Very sad.

Emblematic of a has-been nation.
john113 at 03:00 AM JST - 5th June

Altria,

That can't be a justification for having an airport in Shizuoka. Most Brazilian live in Hamamatsu, and there is shuttle service to Chubu airport and it only takes about 90 min from Hamamatsu.
zurcronium at 04:26 AM JST - 5th June

Just like the kobe airport, a total boondoggle and from day one operating in a the red.

The LDP loves to give the construction industry whatever it wants and then give the bills for the operating costs to the taxpayers forever. Just like in the USA with football and baseball stadiums that lose money year after year, and the sap taxpayers end up paying and paying.
neganip at 07:19 AM JST - 5th June

This country is a huge case of over-infra-zation. Just a look at the subway map of tokyo should suffice. Instead of paying these firms to keep building ghost airports, towns, roads, bridges they should spend a little on preparing them for globalized competition.
GW at 08:09 AM JST - 5th June

I hope people in Shizuoka have deep pockets as they WILL need them, but the yen for this like all the other white elephants dreamed up by the construction ministry of rip offs & bribes, that is city slickers will be footing the bills for the most part.

What an utterly daft waste of money, much worse than Kobe & that was stupid beyond belief.

Damned local govts need to learn how to budget not this keep up with the jones crap, JPN YOU AINT GOT THE YEN FOR THIS & I RESENT YOU USING MY TAXES FOR ALL THIS CRAP!
john113 at 10:50 AM JST - 5th June

neganip,

Just a look at the subway map of tokyo should suffice.

What do you mean by this? Do you think there are too many metro lines? To my knowledge, they are profitable. I (and most people) won't care as long as they are profitable.
LostinNagoya at 03:35 PM JST - 5th June

GW

I hope people in Shizuoka have deep pockets as they WILL need them, but the yen for this like all the other white elephants dreamed up by the construction ministry of rip offs & bribes, that is city slickers will be footing the bills for the most part.

As far as I know, airports can be built only after a positive feedback from referendum. That´s why Kansai was built on the east side of Osaka bay: Kobe residents said to no Kansai on their doorsteps (they thought it would be troublesome for local wa), only to beg the government years later to built one (the Kobe ¨international¨). Call it a confused population!
flyingfish at 05:04 PM JST - 8th June
>
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just like in europe these regional airports could really boom if they embraced the cheap carriers from asia etc
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That would never happen. The bureaucrats do not want the Japanese to spend their money elsewhere. >

white pocky, you have got my meaning completely wrong-people coming into japan on these cheap flights would stimulate the local areas.. this is starting to happen with cebu pac and now air asia coming in
Youdontknow at 02:43 AM JST - 10th June

bloody pointless having another airport here, 'International airport' or 'International flight' is meaningless really, considering that most flights go from Osaka or Tokyo!