Departure
98%
vs 95% ▲ 3
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Sendai Airport (RJSS) is a large public airport at Natori in Miyagi Prefecture, serving as the main aerial gateway to the Tohoku region and the base for Ibex Airlines. For a visiting VFR or IFR sim pilot it offers a long ILS-equipped main runway alongside a shorter crosswind runway, set close to the coast south-southeast of Sendai city.
Sendai Airport is a large public airport located at Natori in Miyagi Prefecture, roughly 13.6 km south-southeast of central Sendai, and is the principal airport of the Tohoku region. It is operated by Sendai International Airport Co., Ltd. and serves as a hub for the regional carrier Ibex Airlines. For a sim pilot it is a useful destination combining a long instrument-equipped main runway with a shorter crosswind strip, plus an interesting post-disaster history following the 2011 tsunami.
The airport lies in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, on Japan's Pacific coast south-southeast of Sendai city. It is a controlled aerodrome with its own approach, departure, tower and ground services, and its tower historically also controlled operations at Odate-Noshiro Airport and Sado Airport. The control tower, the Tokyo Regional Civil Aviation Bureau office and the air cargo terminal are situated on the west side of the main terminal building, while facilities for small private aircraft, four helipads and aircraft hangars are located to the south side of the airfield.
Sendai has two physical runways. The main runway, 09/27, is 9,793 ft long with a hard surface and lighting, and is equipped with an ILS on runway 27. The secondary runway, 12/30, is a hard-surfaced, lit strip approximately 4,226 ft long on the 12 heading and 4,081 ft on the 30 heading. Field elevation is 7 ft.
Sendai provides a full suite of radio services: Approach on 120.4 MHz, ATIS on 126.45 MHz, Departure on 120 MHz, Ground on 121.7 MHz, a TCA frequency on 121.025 MHz, and Tower on 118.7 MHz. An ILS is available for runway 27, supporting instrument approaches to the main runway.
Sendai Airport originated in 1940 when the Imperial Japanese Army built the field for use by the Kumagaya Army Flight School's Masda Branch School Trainee Training Center; it was known variously as Natory Airfield, Masda Airfield and Yatory Airfield. In 1943 the Miho Army Flight Center moved in and the facility was expanded and reformed into the Sendai Army Flight School. At the end of the Second World War the United States Army took control of the airport, returning it to Japan in 1956, when it was transferred to the Ministry of Defense with the Ministry of Transport designated to administer civil use. The runway was extended to 1,200 metres in 1957, coinciding with the start of a Tokyo Haneda to Sendai route by Nippon Helicopter Transport, the forerunner of All Nippon Airways. Commercial jet services began on 14 February 1970, when runway 09/27 was lengthened to 2,000 metres. International service began on 6 April 1990 with an Asiana Airlines route from Seoul Gimpo, followed by Air China services to Beijing via Dalian from 1994 and later routes to Shanghai and Changchun. The runway was further extended, reaching 2,500 metres in 1992 and 3,000 metres in 1997, alongside the opening of a new terminal. The Sendai Airport Line rail link to Sendai Station opened on 18 March 2007. On 11 March 2011 the airport was struck by the Tohoku earthquake and then substantially flooded by the ensuing tsunami, submerging the apron, taxiways and runway and inundating parts of the second floor of the terminal, disabling electrical and safety equipment; around 1,300 people were stranded in the terminal until evacuation on 13 March. United States military engineers partially reopened the airport for tsunami-response flights from 17 March, with a Combat Talon II landing after debris clearance and a USAF C-17 delivering 40 metric tons of relief supplies by 20 March; the field subsequently served as a transit point for roughly two million tons of airlifted relief supplies, with the US military operating air traffic control until Japanese controllers resumed responsibility shortly before commercial traffic returned. Limited commercial services resumed on 13 April 2011, regular domestic flights returned on 25 July 2011, and most international flights resumed by October 2011.
Sendai Airport continues to operate as the largest airport in the Tohoku region and remains a base for Ibex Airlines. The control tower, a Tokyo Regional Civil Aviation Bureau office and the air cargo terminal are grouped on the west side of the main terminal building, while dedicated facilities for small private aircraft, four helipads and aircraft hangars occupy the south side of the field.