Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Kushiro Airport (RJCK/KUH), often known locally as Tancho Kushiro Airport, serves the city of Kushiro on the eastern side of Hokkaido, Japan. It is a modest but well-equipped regional field with a single long runway, full ILS approach capability and a control tower, making it a straightforward yet interesting destination for simulator pilots exploring eastern Hokkaido.
Kushiro Airport is a public airport operated under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism umbrella, with day-to-day operation by Hokkaido Airports. It lies to the west-northwest of Kushiro city and functions as the principal air gateway to eastern Hokkaido, linking the region to Tokyo, Sapporo and, seasonally, Osaka. For a sim pilot, it offers a single generously long asphalt runway with an ILS, set against the wide, sparsely populated landscape of eastern Hokkaido, including the nearby Kushiro Marsh and Akan-Mashu National Park.
The airport sits roughly 17 km west-northwest of the centre of Kushiro city, Hokkaido, in a broad, open area near the Kushiroshitsugen (Kushiro Marsh) National Park and within reach of Akan-Mashu National Park. Traffic in the vicinity is worked by Sapporo Control on the area control frequency, with the airport's own tower providing terminal control.
Kushiro has a single physical runway, 17/35, measuring 8,165 feet (roughly 2,490 metres) and surfaced in hard-standing (asphalt concrete). Both directions are lit for night operations, and an instrument landing system serves runway 17.
Kushiro Tower operates on 118.05 MHz, providing air traffic control service to arriving and departing aircraft. Sapporo Area Control Centre works traffic in the surrounding airspace on 127.5 MHz. Runway 17 is served by an ILS, supporting instrument approaches in the often marginal eastern Hokkaido weather.
Kushiro Airport opened in July 1961 with a 1,200 metre runway, a modest beginning that has since been substantially expanded. A parallel taxiway was added in 1988, and the airport gained a Category IIIa instrument landing system in 1995, considerably improving its all-weather capability given the region's frequent fog and low cloud. A new passenger terminal, 2.6 times the size of the original, opened in 1998. International charter flights, connecting Kushiro with South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong, began in 2000.
Today Kushiro Airport handles scheduled domestic services from Air Do and Japan Airlines to Tokyo-Haneda, ANA Wings to Sapporo-Chitose, Hokkaido Air System to Sapporo-Okadama, and seasonal Peach Aviation flights to Osaka-Kansai and Tokyo-Narita. The single terminal is designed primarily for domestic traffic but retains limited customs and immigration facilities to handle international charter arrivals. The airport is operated by Hokkaido Airports under the branding Tancho Kushiro Airport.