, also unofficially known as is a domestic airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 located 6.4 NM south southeast of the city of Wajima

Wajima, Ishikawa

is a city located in Ishikawa, Japan.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 31,532 and the density of 74 persons per km². The total area is 426.25 km².The city was founded on March 31, 1954....

 on the Noto Peninsula

Noto Peninsula

thumb|right|240px|Landsat image with high-resolution data from Space Shuttle.Noto Peninsula is a peninsula that projects north into the Sea of Japan from the coast of Ishikawa prefecture in central Honshū, the main island of Japan...

 of Ishikawa Prefecture

Ishikawa Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshū island. The capital is Kanazawa.- History :Ishikawa was formed from the merger of Kaga Province and the smaller Noto Province.- Geography :Ishikawa is on the Sea of Japan coast...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

The airport is a four-story building with two jetway

Jetway

A jet bridge is an enclosed, movable connector which extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, allowing passengers to board and disembark without having to go outside...

s. It is officially designated a third class airport.

History

Completed on July 7, 2003, Noto Airport is among Japan's newest greenfield airports not constructed to replace an existing facility. Initially, All Nippon Airways

All Nippon Airways

, also known as or ANA, is one of the largest airlines in Japan. It is headquartered at the Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It operates services to 49 destinations in Japan and 35 international routes and employed over 14,000 employees as of May 2009...

 (ANA) was only willing to operate one flight per day. Ishikawa Prefecture thus suggested Japan's first occupancy guarantee agreement (搭乗率保証制度), in which ANA agreed to operate two daily flights and in exchange Ishikawa Prefecture agreed to compensate ANA if occupancy

Occupancy

Occupancy in building construction and building codes is the use or intended use of a building or part thereof for the shelter or support of persons, animals or property. A closely related meaning is the number of units in such a building that are rented or leased, or otherwise in-use...

 fell below a set target (initially 70%) and gross ticket sales were under 200 million yen. However, the agreement also specified that if the target is exceeded, ANA must pay the excess back to Ishikawa Prefecture. So far, the agreement seems to have been mutually beneficial:

Year	Plane	Target occupancy	Actual occupancy	Excess	Reference
2003–2004	Boeing 737-500, 126 seats	70%	79.5%	+¥97.3 million
2004–2005	Boeing 737 Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers... , 170 seats	63%	64.6%	+¥15.9 million
2005–2006	Boeing 737 Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers... , 166 seats	64%	66.5%	+¥20.0 million
2006–2007	Airbus A320 Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001... , 166 seats	62%	65.1%	?

Airlines and destinations