This is the international airport of the Nagoya metropolitan area (RJGG / NGO). The airport is known as “Chubu Kuko” in Japan, the English name is “Central Japan International Airport”, “Centrair” for short. The airport is located approx. 30 km south of Nagoya on an artificial island. The nearest city is Tokoname. About 12 million passengers are handled per year.

The airport was opened in 2005 and took over the international services from the old Komaki Airport. ANA and JAL are the two major airlines at NGO. The major carriers of the Far East serve the airport as well as some other Chinese and Korean operators. Long Haul operators include Finnair and Lufthansa (services are still interrupted as of April 2023) from Europe,  Delta (from Detroit) and United (737, from Guam) from the U.S.. However, most operations are domestic flights, so you should visit this airport especially if you look for Japanese narrowbodies.If you are very lucky, you can even see the Boeing Dreamlifter here as there are some component suppliers in the Nagoya area.

You usually have to face strong winds at this airport.

Written by Maximilian Ono and Martin Rogosz. Last time visited and update: August 2023

Rating
Movements
Airline Variety
Photo Locations
Weather
Airport Information
Runways
18/36	3.500 m
Terminals	Terminal 1: most domestic and international flights; Terminal 2: Some low cost carriers
Spotting Information
Ladder	Not required
Car/Public Transport	Not required
Restrooms	Inside terminal buildings and on Sky Deck.
Drinks/Food	Inside terminal buildings.
Hotels	Centrair Hotel on the airport island. Possibly there are other hotels on the shore in Tokoname
Season	All year long. Sunny weather is common at this airport, but during the hot summer months you sometimes have to face misty conditions.
Runway Usage
18/36	Is available in both directions. However, I always witnessed Runway 36 operations during my five visits.

	Spot #1 – Sky Deck – Runway 18/36 arrivals and departures, Overview of the main Apron
WHERE	From the check-in area, take the escalator upstairs to 4th floor and cross the shopping facilities. At their end, you’ll find the entrance to SkyDeck, a huge free oberservation deck on top of the main pier.
WHAT	As NGO is located on an island, this is the only place to spot from. You can view all parking positions, especially the planes parked on the main pier (both domestic and international flights). If you move to the far end of the pier, you can spot movements on the two main taxiways Alpha and Bravo directly in front of you as well as departures and arrivals on the runway. The fence of the terrace consists of elastic horizontal bars. The space between the bars is big enough to put a camera lense in between, so the fence is not a problem for spotters.
TIME	Best light conditions for runway action is in the morning until 11 AM. Planes taxiing north of the pier (mainly domestic flights) can be pictured all day.
MISC.	The observation deck opens at 7:00 a.m. during summer season. Food and drinks can be bought inside the terminal building or if you go downstairs in the middle of Sky Deck, but it’s also possible to bring in food from outside to eat it here. There are various benches and seating opportunities inside the building as well as on the building’s terrace. Monitors show the current flight information.
FOCAL LENGTH	approx. 40-80mm for planes on the nearest taxiways, according to aircraft size. 100-150mm for planes on the runway.

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