Centrair, formally known as the Central Japan International Airport, was
conceived and constructed as a new air gateway to the central region of Japan.
The artificial airport island was built in the Aichi prefecture, about 170 miles
southwest of Tokyo.
"Centrair is an artificial airport island, built in
the Aichi prefecture, about 170 miles southwest of Tokyo."
The airport now serves a major population centre of about 10 million people
and also a major industrial area; the airport also handles a significant
quantity of commercial cargo from the area.
Much of the cargo leaving Centrair consists of orders from automobile
producers based in the region. Airport officials hope that about 50% of the
region's cargo, or around 600,000t a year, will eventually pass through
Centrair.
Despite much protest over the project's necessity by local environmentalists
and fishermen, construction started in August 2000. The airport was opened on
schedule in March 2005; this was timed to handle the passenger traffic for the
2005 World Exposition, which was held in the nearby city of Aichi (the Expo
provided the first test for the airport and allowed it to prove its usefulness
to its critics).
Airport traffic has been growing since its opening and it is expected to
become Japan's third largest international airport in the near future.
The new airport has also been designated a Class 1 national airport as well
as an international airport. The airport is now operating at full capacity and
all international and domestic passenger flights that previously used the Nagoya
Airport have been transferred to the new airport.
OPERATORS AND FINANCE
The airport's operator is a consortium made up of the central and local
governments as well as over 200 companies. The consortium is known as Central
Japan International Airport Company Ltd (CJIAC) and they were appointed by the
national government in July 1998 to be the constructing and managing body of
Centrair.
The airport construction costs came to a little over ¥768bn ($7bn). CJIAC
fostered an excellent environmental record during the construction project and
were ISO 14001 certified during the course of the project.
CONSTRUCTION, DESIGN AND PECULIARITY
The new airport was constructed on an artificial offshore island created by a
land-reclamation scheme started in 2001 and completed by spring of 2003. The
land was reclaimed by building concrete revetments on the seabed and then
building the island up with hundreds of tons of rock and sandstone landfill. The
seabed was particularly shallow and stable in this region, allowing this to be
achieved.
"The new airport island was created by a
land-reclamation scheme completed in spring 2003."
The island was constructed by Penta-Ocean Construction Co Ltd. The new island
was designed to allow initially one large runway of dimensions 3,500m x 60m.
Future plans, which are now being seriously considered, include the option to
extend the initial runway to 4,000m and build another runway of identical
dimensions adjacent to it.
The airport occupies an area of 4.3km × 1.9km on the island, allowing the
remaining portion of the island to be used to provide habitats for wildlife.
Since the Central Japan International Airport is an offshore airport, only
water areas are affected by aircraft noise, this enables aircraft to land and
takeoff 24 hours a day without the time constraints affecting other airports
closer to habitation.
PASSENGER TERMINAL BUILDING
The passenger terminal was designed by a joint venture; CJIAC commissioned
four construction companies to participate in the planning, design and survey of
the passenger terminal area. The four companies were Nikken Sekkei Ltd and Azusa
Sekkei Co, both of Japan, along with Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum Inc (HOK) of
the United States and British firm Bovis Program Management Japan Inc. Arup was
responsible for structural and faced engineering.
The passenger terminal building consists of four areas - main building,
international wing, domestic wing and centre pier. It is a long narrow T-shaped
building about 1,030m in the north–south direction and about 500m in the
east–west direction.
The main terminal building has a central pier extending towards the runway
and two 'wings' extending out to the sides. The roof covering this large
building has a total area of about 80,000m², and is an important element both
functionally and architecturally.
The total system used to construct the terminal is a combination of space
trusses and raking columns (columns with four inclined members), to give an
integrated, simple, and rational design. For architectural expression the linear
trusses are exposed to form the ceiling reminiscent of origami.
"Centrair is expected to become Japan's third largest
international airport in the near future."
The total floor area for the passenger terminal is 220,000m². The terminal
building comprises two self-contained levels allowing easier flight connections
for travellers. The terminal also has abundant commercial space for shops and
malls and an observation deck to allow views of the airplane takeoffs and
landings. Also, by using glass and metal panels in the facade to give a design
with a feeling of transparency, natural light is allowed in for plants.
On the west side facing Ise Bay glass was used abundantly to create a feeling
of openness and to make the most of the natural light. To increase the energy
efficiency of the design louvers created light shading and multi-layer glass was
used for thermal insulation.
Some of the building's main attractions are the Tenbo Buro (bath with a
view), a spa facility that offers views of airliners landing and taking off and
the indoor garden where Japanese couples can stage wedding ceremonies. The
terminal building has won several awards for its design, including the Good
Design Award 2005, the Cyubu Architecture Award 2005 and the Aichi Townscape
Architecture Award 2005.
RETAIL EXPANSION
Plans are underway, having started in April 2006, to expand the retail space
in the international departure area at Centrair to further improve service for
passengers. A new gift and travel goods shop will be opened in another area with
a larger floor space and the foreign money exchange booth will be moved to a new
more accessible area.
Meanwhile the deli and cafe floor space will be extended into the space
vacated by the old gift and travel goods shop. Expansion work is expected to be
completed by end of 2006.
AIRPORT ACCESS AND ASSOCIATED PROJECTS
The airport is joined to the mainland via a four-lane highway stretching some
2.1km to join the Chita transversal road, second Tomei expressway and the
Meishin expressway. This access road ensures a high-speed link to the airport
for motor vehicles from the mainland (30–40 minutes travel time).
In addition, an airport access railway was completed in March 2006, which now
links the airport to central Nagoya in a travel time of only 28 minutes. This
was done with a link to the Tokoname line of the Nagoya railroad. The airport
trains also provide direct connections to Toyohashi, Inuyama and Gifu City.
"The airport is joined to the mainland via a four-lane
highway and a new railway link to central Nagoya."
Centrair is also connected to Tsu in Mie prefecture by high-speed boat from
its own marine terminal. In the central zone of the airport island where the
marine access terminal is located construction is now underway (since early
2006) to develop a conference centre, restaurants, shopping mall, training and
research facilities.
On the mainland opposite the airport island various projects have been
developed including new town planning, landscaping, commercial areas and an
observatory for watching aircraft.
SCANNING TECHNOLOGY
CJIAC in Japan ordered CTX series explosives detection systems from InVision
Technologies Inc, Newark, California, to be installed in the Centrair
terminal.
The CTX 9000 DSi system is the fastest FAA-certified Explosives Detection
System (EDS) currently available. The system is FAA-certified at 542 bags an
hour but can use alternative modes to increase throughput.
The system has a 1m-wide conveyor that coordinates with standard airport
baggage handling systems and requires minimal space for installation. The CTX
9000 DSi has core technology derived from medical Computerised Tomography
(CT).