By TORU TOKUYAMA/ Staff Writer
November 28, 2024 at 18:51 JST
OITA—After a 15-year hiatus, hovercraft are making a comeback as Oita Prefecture prepares to reopen what will be Japan’s only passenger route for the watercraft as early as December.
The hovercraft will float passengers between Oita Airport in Kunisaki and Oita city through Beppu Bay in about 30 minutes.
Hovercraft are amphibious vessels that travel above the water surface. These vessels will be operated by Oita Daiichi Hoverdrive Co., a subsidiary of Daiichi Koutsu Sangyo Co. based in Kita-Kyushu.
The company also plans to run hovercraft sightseeing cruises on weekends, starting on Nov. 30, to build operational experience before resuming the regular airport route in December.
Hovercraft had been used in Japan since the latter half of 1960s, including along routes between Kumamoto city and Shimabara city and routes in the Seto Inland Sea. However, none of these remain in operation today.
In Oita Prefecture, a route to and from the airport was established in 1971 and used by around 400,000 passengers annually at its peak in the 1990s.
However, as passenger numbers declined, Oita’s hovercraft service was discontinued in 2009.
Recently, the prefectural government began to reconsider using hovercraft to improve access to Oita Airport, which is an hour from Oita city by express bus.
The prefecture decided to pay for the cost of the vessels and boarding terminals, while a private company will operate the hovercraft.
However, since navigation and operations training began in November last year, four accidents have occurred—including hitting a guardrail beside the route and crashing into a seawall.
These issues have delayed the start of the operations by nearly a year.
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A hovercraft arrives at a terminal in Oita after the trial tour on Nov. 27. (Takeshi Takashima)
