We experienced a trip on an air route to a remote island as an extra lesson on 2nd Sep.
The students asked me what the air routes to remote islands are literally, they are flights between the city and remote islands. We left Haneda airport for Ohshima island by All Nippon Airways jet. It took only 30minutes to get there.
Actually we didn’t care about the flight to Ohshima, we were there to board a small propeller aircraft (Dornier228) and go back to Tokyo via Chofu airport. This is also highly valued regular flight necessary for the lives of those living on remote islands.
This is the Dornier 228.
We had only a short time on the tarmac at Ohshima airport.
I think boarding bridges are convenient but I could see the grass roots of air travel by walking across the tarmac. The captain looked back and gave the departure information directly to the passengers because there is no cabin attendant. It was a new experience. You could learn how the airplane flies when you board this type of small aircraft. I could see the Zushi-Marina through the small window of the plane.
The Zushi-Marina scene from the air.
We arrived at the Chofu airport in 22minutes.
It was faster than the flight from Haneda.
We felt the plane’s shaking a little bit but the comfort level was much better than in older aircraft. We were tired because we took two flights within four hours, but I wish I could have stay on board 10minutes longer.
There are not only big carriers like Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, but also there are various carriers who are working furiously day and night. I hope you have a chance to get on board a plane like this. I want the students who are seeking to work for the industry should know about the community-based carriers like this one.
At the end, we really appreciated that the New Central Air Service helped us a lot to make this on-site training possible.
Satoshi Umeda
Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College (Tokyo)
