Flight schedule announced for new Iwakuni airport
SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — All Nippon Airways will have four outbound and four inbound flights daily from the new Iwakuni Kintaikyo Airport located at the U.S. Marine Corps base there, according to a schedule released by the airline.
Flights from Tokyo’s Haneda airport to the new Iwakuni airport take approximately one hour and 40 minutes and will depart at 9:15 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:45 p.m. and 7:40 p.m., according to an ANA news release. Flights from Iwakuni to Haneda take about an hour and 25 minutes and will depart at 7:30 a.m., 11:40 a.m., 3:45 p.m. and 6:05 p.m.
The airport is slated to open to commercial aircraft for the first time in 48 years on Dec. 13, Japanese government officials have said previously. The runway is located on Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, but planes will taxi to and from an opening in a fence to a new civilian terminal.
Marine Corps and Japanese officials hope the new airport will ease travel for servicemembers, as the nearest airport currently is Hiroshima, about 60 miles away to the north, while also providing a boost to tourism in the area.
