Yao Airport


Yao Airport is a general aviation airport in Yao, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Located southeast of Ōsaka Station, it is also an airbase for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.
Several small carriers offer sightseeing and charter flights from Yao, including Asahi Airlines and Hankyu Airlines.
Yao is the only second class airport in Japan that does not have scheduled airline services.

History

The airport started as Hanshin Aviation School in 1938. Two years later the airfield was seized by the army as the Taishō Airfield and expanded. After World War II, the occupation forces called it the Hanshin Airfield before it was returned to Japanese control.

Operations

Self-Defense Forces

The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force operates a base at the airport, JGSDF Camp Yao. Units based at Camp Yao include:
The Osaka Prefectural Fire Department operates two Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin helicopters from Yao. They are primarily used for firefighting within Osaka, but were dispatched overseas to assist with the 1991 Bangladesh cyclone and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.