Passenger Hovercraft Service Launched in Oita Pref.; Travel between Oita City, Airport 25 Minutes Faster Than by Road

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, July 27, 2025

OITA — Japan’s only passenger hovercraft service carrying riders between Oita Airport in Kunisaki, Oita Prefecture, and Oita City was launched on Saturday.

The service takes just 35 minutes to travel between the two sites, compared to about an hour by road, making the airport more accessible than it was before.

Hovercrafts are amphibious vehicles that lift themselves above the water’s surface by expelling a large volume of air and glide smoothly over the ocean using propellers.

According to Oita Daiichi Hoverdrive Co., which operates the service, the hovercraft has a capacity of up to 80 passengers and makes four round trips per day, with plans to gradually increase the number of trips.

Tickets are available online for ¥2,000 for junior high school students and older and ¥1,000 for children aged 3 through elementary school students.

Many passengers, including airport visitors and vehicle enthusiasts, were on board for the hovercraft’s maiden voyage, which departed from Oita at 6:55 a.m. on the first day of the service.