Thursday, April 23, 2009

Shizuoka Airport, Win an iPod Competition

The JapanGuide.com newsletter brought to my attention the Shizuoka Prefectural Tourism Association's competition to win an iPod.

The tourist board is running this event to celebrate the forthcoming opening of Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport on June 4th. Even if you know nothing about this area, it looks their website has enough clues to help you win one of the 15 Nano iPods they have to offer : https://www.enjoy-shizuoka.jp/en/

The airport is opening three months later than originally planned due to the unfortunate discovery that the trees at the end of the runway were taller than international regulations permit. Taking responsibility for the oversight, Governor Yoshinobu Ishikawa stepped down in March.

4 Roundtrip Flights to Shanghai from Mt. Fuji Shizuoka - Second Int’l Route w/ Regular Flights

Photo Credit: Airport News Japan.

The airport, approx 175km from Tokyo, will have have international flights to Seoul with KoreanAir and Shanghai with China Eastern Airlines. Domestic destinations will include Naha and Sapporo with ANA.

Some people have questioned the wisdom of opening another airport so close to Tokyo. It remains to be seen how this new airport will fair in the current financial climate.

Update: I just hope it does not end up like this airport in South Korea. Yangyang International built seven years ago for $400m (£260m) has not seen a single passenger since November 2008.

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