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Asahikawa Airport (RJEC/AKJ) is a regional airport in central Hokkaido, straddling the cities of Asahikawa and Higashikagura, serving as the main aerial gateway to the Daisetsuzan mountains and the Furano and Biei tourist areas. It offers a single long instrument runway with ILS approach capability, making it accessible to sim pilots flying jet or turboprop services around Hokkaido.
Asahikawa Airport lies in Higashikagura, Hokkaido, and is operated by Hokkaido Airports Co., Ltd. It is the principal airport serving the city of Asahikawa and the wider central Hokkaido region, handling domestic services to Tokyo and international connections, and is a useful VFR or IFR destination for pilots exploring the mountainous interior of Hokkaido, including the Daisetsuzan range.
The airport sits in Higashikagura, straddling the boundary with the city of Asahikawa, in central Hokkaido. It is set against the backdrop of the Daisetsuzan mountains and lies within reach of the Furano and Biei areas, both popular sightseeing destinations. Sapporo Area Control Centre provides overlying control on 127.5 MHz.
The airport has a single physical runway, 16/34, measuring 8164 feet with a hard (asphalt) surface. Both runway ends are lit, and an ILS is available for approaches to runway 34. Field elevation is 689 feet.
The tower callsign is Daisetsu Tower, operating on 118.55 MHz. Overlying area control is provided by Sapporo Control on 127.5 MHz. An ILS is available for runway 34, supporting instrument approaches in the often challenging Hokkaido winter weather.
The Daisetsuzan mountain range provides a prominent visual backdrop to the airport and is a useful reference for pilots approaching from the south or east. Asahiyama Zoo and Furano, both linked to the airport by road, lie within the surrounding area and can assist with orientation during a VFR approach.
Planning for the airport began in the late 1950s, with the site chosen in November 1960 and government approval granted in 1963. Japan Domestic Airlines opened scheduled service on 1 July 1966 with a NAMC YS-11 flight to Haneda via Okadama Airport, initially operating only seasonally until year-round flights to Tokyo began in 1970. The airport closed for major expansion between May 1981 and February 1982, during which the runway was lengthened and widened from 1,200 by 30 metres to 1,640 by 45 metres; a further extension to 2,000 metres followed in November 1982, enabling jet services with DC-9 and MD-80 aircraft and, from December 1983, wide-body Airbus A300s. All Nippon Airways flew the airport's first international charter in 1987. The runway was extended again to 2,500 metres in 1997, with a parallel taxiway completed the following year. Hokkaido Air System operated intra-island flights from Asahikawa to Hakodate between 1998 and 2013 and to Kushiro between 1998 and 2008. Scheduled international service to Seoul began in 2006, and over the following years the airport saw services to Taipei, Beijing and Shanghai from various carriers, though most of these had ended by the early 2020s amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which suspended all international service and sharply reduced domestic traffic. A new international terminal opened in November 2018, and operating rights for the airport, along with six others in Hokkaido, passed to Hokkaido Airports Co., Ltd. in January 2020. International services resumed after Japan lifted cross-border travel restrictions in April 2023.
Asahikawa Airport remains an active regional airport with scheduled domestic services, including routes to Tokyo Haneda and Narita, and international connections such as Taipei. It is operated by Hokkaido Airports Co., Ltd. as part of a group of Hokkaido airports acquired in 2020. The field is equipped with a long, lit hard-surface runway and ILS approach capability, making it usable year-round despite Hokkaido's severe winter weather.
