Permission to build Aomori Airport was granted by the
Ministry of Transport on 1 September 1962. Construction of the airport — at a location different than where Aomori airport stands today — was completed in August 1964 and the first Aomori airport was opened on 5 November 1964, in the town of
Namioka that has since been annexed by the city of
Aomori, with a single 1200 x 30 meter runway designed for use with the
NAMC YS-11 aircraft. The airport was located at an altitude of 200 meters in a valley surrounded by mountains, which hampered operations during inclement weather. The runway was lengthened to 1,350 meters in 1971, widened to 45 meters in 1972, and extended to 1,400 meters in 1973. The terminal building was expanded in 1974, and again in 1978. Due to the geographic limitations of the existing site, design work began to shift the position of the airport to its present location southwest of downtown Aomori, much of the land occupied by the old airport still lies within the northeastern premises of the current airport — roughly along the apron designated for light aircraft. The new facilities opened in 1987 with a single 2,000 x 60 meter runway, with an
ILS system. The runway was extended to 2,500 meters in 1990. In 1995, the airport terminal building was remodeled, and certified as suitable for international operations. The government of
Aomori Prefecture considered the privatization of the airport in 2012 following a study; however, as of 2019 the airport is still managed by the prefecture. After an increase in passenger traffic and the announcement of increased international services, the terminal was renovated in 2019. The renovation included increased capacity for international customers, the addition of prayer facilities for
Muslim travelers, and aesthetic updates to the appearance of the entire terminal building.
Airline services The first scheduled air service to and from Aomori Airport began on 1 June 1965, with
Toa Airways - which would later be known as
Japan Air System (JAS) - servicing
Haneda Airport by NAMC YS-11 turboprop aircraft.
All Nippon Airways began operations to Tokyo in 1994. In the following year,
Korean Air began operations to
Seoul and
Siberian Airlines to
Khabarovsk when the airport was certified for international operations. On 17 July 2019,
EVA Air began operating two flights per week between Aomori and
Taoyuan International Airport. As of March 2025, international flights run once a day overall with 4 weekly flights to Seoul and 3 weekly flights to Taipei. ==Facilities==