Chubu Centrair Airport is certified as 5-Star Regional Airport

By Peter Miller, Skytrax

London, UK: Chubu Centrair International Airport in Nagoya, Japan has been awarded the global 5-Star Regional Airport for the third consecutive year by SKYTRAX, the international air transport rating organisation.

The 5-Star Airport rating is a mark of quality distinction for an airport, and honours very high standards of Product and Staff service across the different assessment categories in the Airport environment. The 5-Star Airport rating once again confirms that Chubu Centrair International Airport is a leader in terms of service quality and consistency, together with product standards in the airport, and that Centrair is meeting many global Best Practice levels for the airport industry.

In September 2019,  the new LCC Terminal 2 at Centrair Airport was opened, becoming the third dedicated LCC terminal in Japan. The new terminal has a total floor area of 45,000 square meters, and has the capacity to handle 4.5 million passengers a year.

A primary focus of the 5-Star rating is that an airport must offer an easy and pleasant travel experience to customers, including items such as wayfinding and signage, seating and comfort, food and beverages to security and immigration processing, and these all perform at a very high standard at Centrair.

The Centrair 5-Star Airport rating recognises high standards of Product and Staff service across different assessment categories in the Airport environment, and the Audit noted that Chubu Centrair International Airport is at the forefront in terms of service quality and consistency, and product and service innovation in the airport.

Airport terminal cleanliness and presentation is a key focus item, with the need for an airport’s mass processing of customers to provide an assurance of hygiene. All terminal areas including washrooms, seating areas, and other customer facilities were subjected to rigorous tests at Centrair, and these were found to be meeting global Best Practice standards. Chubu Centrair International Airport enjoys excellent ground transport links, with its Access Plaza located just 30 metres from the arrival and departure halls, which links trains, buses, cars, high-speed boats, and public transport with the Passenger Terminal.

For customers with a little longer to linger at the airport, the Sky Deck is at the top level of the Centrair terminal, and extends outwards towards the runway, with a 300 metre long upper is lined with wooden flooring. Many people praise this deck for having the closest observation point to the airplanes in Japan. The farthest end of the Sky Deck is 300 metres from the runway and just 50 metres from the taxiway that airplanes take when taxiing to the runway, making it possible for visitors to see the airplanes close up.

Centrair offers travellers the chance to experience its bathhouse with a view (Fu No Yu), where customers can enjoy a relaxing soak in this bathhouse, while viewing the airplanes and watching the sun as it sets.

Customers can enjoy a comprehensive choice of food and beverages throughout the landside Sky Town area, restaurants offering Japanese, Western, Italian, French, Chinese, Korean, and other World cuisine including the Ramen and Noodle Restaurants.

The highly rated Centrair Hotel is directly connected to the airport facilities, being located close to the Central Japan International Airport Station ticket gate (100 m) and airport check-in counters (130 m), offering true 5-Star levels of convenience.

In October 2018, Chubu Centrair International Airport opened the Flight of Dreams at Chubu Centrair Airport, with the world’s first Boeing 787 on display. Situated opposite the passenger terminal and adjacent to the new LCC Terminal 2, Flight of Dreams comprises a four-storey building which includes shops and restaurants, including a Boeing store selling merchandise, and outlets themed on Seattle.

Activities  include a walk-through, animated virtual tour of Boeing’s Everett assembly plant, a space to fold and fly paper airplanes that trigger sound and light depending on how far they fly, and a look inside the world’s first Boeing 787 cockpit.

There’s also an app-powered scavenger hunt to spot all the parts of the 787 airplane, a chance to draw and scan an airplane and then fly it in a 3D dome, a “pretend you work in the airline cabin” experience, and a twice-an-hour colored light show that projects onto the Boeing 787 and across the floor of the hall. The Boeing 787 simulator is also in the Flight Park.

World Airport Rating

Skytrax World Airport Star Rating is a leading, professional Quality Benchmarking system evaluating standards of front-line Product and Service quality for airports worldwide. Airports are Rated on the basis of a complex, multi-faceted Product and Service quality assessment system.

Airport Ratings are based on a comprehensive study of front-line airport product and service items. Criteria includes key items of process efficiency, terminal comfort and cleanliness, passenger facilities and staff service. Service ratings covers both official staff (immigration, police, security and customs), as well as more general airport staff (shops, restaurants and cafes, help counters etc.).