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Pictures can be seen at:
http://www.sun-inet....ish/p1-3-2.html
Excellent private WWW-page to this subject with MANY picutres by a Japanese citizen living nearby...
Professional links:
http://www.penta-oce..._data02_03.html
Dead link removed - Mandrake
We hope competition among three of the international airports in this country will result in better services for passengers.
On Thursday, Chubu Airport was put into service after five years of work to construct an artificial island in waters off Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture. The new airport is the third full-scale international airport to be built in the nation, following Narita and Kansai airports. In the initial stage of its operations, Chubu Airport will cover routes to and from 24 domestic cities and 25 overseas cities. Its operator expects to serve an estimated 12 million passengers annually.
A chief advantage Chubu Airport enjoys is its ability to provide easy connections between domestic and international flights. A passenger departing from any regional airport for Chubu Airport early in the morning will be able to transfer to an international flight at the new airport before noon. To emphasize this advantage, the operator advertises the airport as a gateway to international flights, which can be boarded within 75 minutes after a passenger gets on a plane at a regional airport.
For years, a number of travelers from regional airports have had to stay overnight at hotels near Narita Airport if they want to take morning flights to overseas destinations from the airport. This symbolizes the government's failure to take into account passengers' convenience when planning airports. The opening of Chubu Airport may somewhat mitigate the inconvenience endured by passengers.
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Convenience kept in mind
Initially, the operator of Kansai Airport hoped to draw as many passengers as possible by providing easy connections between domestic and international flights. However, Itami Airport has been kept in service even after Kansai Airport opened in 1994. This is because residents living in areas that host Itami Airport demanded that it be kept open.
This has left the Itami facility serving domestic routes, while Kansai Airport serves international passengers. This division has contributed to a decline in the business performance of Kansai Airport.
Aichi Prefecture did not commit the same mistake. Nagoya Airport will be used only for commuter airplanes. Chubu Airport has taken over all routes previously covered by midsize and large planes to and from Nagoya Airport.
Meanwhile, the operator of Kansai Airport is seeking to serve domestic routes again, as shown by a plan by Skymark Airlines to open a route between Haneda and Kansai airports in spring. This may trigger competition between Chubu and Kansai airports in drawing passengers who use connections between domestic and overseas flights.
A 28-minute train ride connects Chubu Airport to Meitetsu Nagoya Station, a terminal station operated by Nagoya Railroad Co. The airport is also within easy reach of the Tokaido Shinkansen line. For those living in an area near a Shinkansen line in the Tokyo metropolitan area, the time required to travel from there to Chubu Airport is no greater than that needed to go to Narita Airport...
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(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb. 18) Copyright 2005 The Yomiuri Shimbun
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