Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
New Tanegashima Airport (RJFG) serves Tanegashima, one of the Ōsumi Islands in southern Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, replacing an older airfield that could not handle jet traffic. Its single ILS-equipped runway and island setting make it a distinctive VFR and IFR destination for pilots flying to this part of the Kyushu region.
New Tanegashima Airport is a government-operated public airport on Tanegashima Island, part of the Ōsumi Islands group in southern Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. It handles scheduled domestic services, with J-Air linking the field to Osaka-Itami and Japan Air Commuter operating to Fukuoka and Kagoshima. For a simulator pilot, the airport is notable both for its relatively short but ILS-equipped runway and for its history as a direct replacement for an earlier, undersized airfield nearby.
The airport lies at Nakatane on Tanegashima, one of the Ōsumi Islands off the southern coast of Kyushu in Kagoshima Prefecture. It sits within the area served by Fukuoka control, reflected in the 133.85 MHz Fukuoka frequency listed for the field, placing it within the wider Fukuoka FIR structure typical of this part of Japan.
The airport has a single physical runway, 13/31, some 6,518 to 6,519 feet long with a hard (asphalt concrete) surface and runway lighting. An ILS is available for runway 31, giving instrument approach capability at the field. Field elevation is 768 feet.
Air-to-ground and approach communications are provided on 118.75 MHz, identified as Tanegashima Approach. Fukuoka is worked on 133.85 MHz for wider area control in the vicinity. The instrument approach available is the ILS to runway 31, supporting instrument arrivals in poorer weather.
The original Tanegashima Airport opened on 27 July 1962 at a site around 8 kilometres southeast of the present airport. Its runway was lengthened from 1,000 metres to 1,500 metres in 1973, but this remained unsuitable for jet aircraft. That airfield closed on 16 March 2006, the same day New Tanegashima Airport opened with a 2,000-metre runway capable of handling jet services. The earlier, smaller Tanegashima Airport is also known for its appearance in the anime film 5 Centimeters per Second, though this refers to the original site rather than the current airport.
New Tanegashima Airport today handles scheduled domestic passenger services, with J-Air flying to Osaka-Itami and Japan Air Commuter serving Fukuoka and Kagoshima. The field is equipped with a lit, ILS-capable runway suited to jet operations, a capability the original airfield lacked.