Kōchi Airport

For the international airport in Kochi, India, see Cochin International Airport.

Kōchi Airport (Japanese: 高知空港, Kōchi Kūkō) (IATA: KCZ, ICAO: RJOK), also known as Kōchi Ryōma Airport (Japanese: 高知龍馬空港, Kōchi Ryōma Kūkō), is a regional airport in Nankoku, a city in Kōchi Prefecture of Japan. It is located on the southeastern coast, 7 NM (13 km; 8.1 mi) east^[2] of the city of Kōchi.

Kōchi Airport 高知空港 Kōchi Kūkō
IATA: KCZ ICAO: RJOK
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Government of Japan
Operator	Kōchi Airport
Location	Nankoku, Kōchi, Japan
Elevation AMSL	29 ft / 9 m
Coordinates	33°32′46″N 133°40′10″E
Website	www.kochiap.co.jp
Map
KCZ/RJOK Location in Kōchi Prefecture Show map of Kochi Prefecture KCZ/RJOK Location in Japan Show map of Japan
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 14/32 2,500 8,202 Asphalt concrete
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 1,350,930 Cargo (metric tonnes) 3,678 Aircraft movement 18,176
Source: Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism[1]

The 120 ha (297 acres) airport has a single runway handling small to medium size aircraft. The 10,900 m² (117,327 sq ft) two storey terminal building is located to the north side of the runway. The arrivals level is on the first floor and departures on the second. There are 14 retail stores in the small terminal building. There is an observation deck on the third floor of the building. Transportation from the airport is by car, taxi or bus.

History

Kōchi Airport was originally built in 1944 as Kōchi Airfield for the Imperial Japanese Navy and from 1945 to 1952 the airport was under command of US forces. The airfield became a civilian airport in 1952 and first flights started operating in 1954.

The runway was expanded in 1960 and 1980 and later to 2,500 metres (8,202 ft) to handle larger aircraft.

In November 2003 it became the first airport in Japan to be nicknamed after a person: Bakumatsu period leader Sakamoto Ryōma.^[3]

Facts

• 6,850 long tons (6,960 t) of cargo annually (2000)
• 13,500 landings annually (2000)
• 3 gates handling 37 aircraft

Statistics

• 2,400,000 passengers annually (1,932,000 in 2000)

Annual passenger traffic at KCZ airport. See Wikidata query.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
All Nippon Airways	Tokyo–Haneda
ANA Wings	Osaka–Itami
Fuji Dream Airlines	Nagoya–Centrair,[4] Nagoya–Komaki
J-Air	Fukuoka
Japan Airlines	Tokyo–Haneda
Jetstar Japan	Osaka–Kansai, Tokyo–Narita[5]
Tigerair Taiwan	Taipei–Taoyuan

Incidents and accidents

All Nippon Airways Flight 1603 plane makes a belly landing at Kōchi Airport on 13 March 2007 after the front landing gear fails to deploy.

On 13 March 2007, All Nippon Airways Flight 1603, a Bombardier Dash 8, on a flight from Osaka to Kōchi, landed safely at the Kōchi Airport after the front wheel of the plane failed to deploy. As a result, ANA's fleet of thirteen Bombardier DHC-8 aircraft were grounded for emergency inspections.^[6]