Asian Sky Quarterly 2023 Q4

SAPPORO OPENS NEW FBO
SAPPORO OPENS
LONG AWAITED FBO
By Alud Davies
Sapporo is a city of contrasts. Nestled in the north of Japan on second biggest island, it is known in spring for
its beautiful cherry blossoms that can rival the Sakura Season displays in Tokyo, and in winter for being an icy
wonderland, which culminates with its own snow festival.
Visitors flock to the city during the winter from Japan and the rest of Asia. For some it will be their first glimpse
of snow, but for others it is an annual ritual as they look to hone their skiing or snowboarding skills. During this
winter season, which normally lasts between early December and the end of March, the number of visitors to the
city swell so much that airline schedules almost double. But it is not just commercial aircraft that use the airport,
a decent number of private jets do as well.
Without proper facilities, visiting aircraft would have to park on
the end of the international terminal and, if the arrivals came from
outside of Japan, the passengers would then need to go into the
terminal itself to be processed through the normal immigration
channels in the airport.
Not exactly the most premium of solutions, especially as those
private jets arriving are normally large, long range jets, the
passengers of which no doubt staying at the more upmarket hotels
and resorts around the city and its surroundings.
But in December 2023 the airport got what it desperately needed;
its own FBO.
Nestled towards the end of the international terminal, the FBO
was built from the ground up in seven months to not only create
a feeling of calm and space, but also to have a logical flow for
passengers passing through the facility. The facility does house
Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) facilities, although the
staff that perform these functions are shared with the neighbouring
international terminal and come across to the FBO as and when
they are needed. The FBO also features a pilot’s lounge and
dedicated lounge spaces for passengers.
Although an opening ceremony for the FBO was held on December
9th, the new facility was officially opened a day earlier on December
8th, when an Airbus ACJ arrived from Clark in the Philippines.
Overall, the airport says that the FBO is in response to an increase
in the number of business aircraft visiting the airport, which
regularly tops 400 movements per year. This, the Hokkaido Airport
Authority’s Managing Executive Officer Takayuki Yamamoto adds,
53 | ASIAN SKY QUARTERLY - FOURTH QUARTER 2023