Okushiri, Rishiri, and WakkanaiA Failed 3-Airport Plan Killed by a Bomb Cyclone
Airport conquest series. I planned a two-day trip covering Okushiri, Rishiri, and Wakkanai airports, but a bomb cyclone caused all Hokkaido flights to be canceled. The plan could not be executed. Preserved here as a memorial.
- Airports
- Okushiri, Rishiri, Wakkanai, via Okadama
- Duration
- Two days, one night, from Haneda
- Outcome
- Every flight cancelled by an explosive cyclone; none of the airports reached
- Total
- ¥73,180
I later succeeded on a revenge attempt using a different route.
The full series index is here.
Route Design
Okushiri and Rishiri are both island airports, primarily accessible from Okadama Airport. Wakkanai is close enough to Rishiri to reach by ferry. The plan covered all three in two days.
Day 1: Haneda → New Chitose → (overland) → Okadama → Okushiri → Okadama → Rishiri → (ferry) → Wakkanai (overnight) Day 2: Wakkanai → Haneda
The key is using Okadama as a hub: round trip to Okushiri, then fly to Rishiri. The Okushiri ferry schedule didn’t connect, so the plan was a simple air round trip. From Rishiri, ferry to Wakkanai.
Itinerary (based on January 2022 timetables)
Day 1: Haneda → Okadama → Okushiri → Okadama → Rishiri → Wakkanai
Day 2: Wakkanai → Haneda
Collapse
Winter Hokkaido island airports have high cancellation rates. Okushiri, Rishiri, and Wakkanai are all among the most cancellation-prone. This time, a bomb cyclone hit directly and all Hokkaido flights were canceled. If Okadama → Okushiri and Okadama → Rishiri don’t fly, the plan is dead.
Planning this route in winter was itself a risk. The revenge attempt was executed in a season with more stable weather.
The index for the airport-conquest series:
Oct 17, 2021
Conquering Every Airport in JapanIf riding every rail line is the railway equivalent, visiting every airport is the aviation one. An index of route plans for covering all Japanese airports.
