Flights to Sapporo: Airports, Domestic Routes and the Train into the City

You step out of the arrivals hall in Hokkaido, and the first thing you notice is how the terminal opens straight onto a station platform, with a hot spa, a cinema and shops just upstairs. Sapporo is reached by air through New Chitose Airport, and from there a train runs directly to the city.

A jet at a Japanese airport · Illustration

How do you fly to Sapporo?

You fly to New Chitose Airport, the airport that serves Sapporo, and then continue into the city by train or bus. From elsewhere in Japan, several airlines connect Hokkaido with Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka on nonstop flights, so a trip to Sapporo can easily be added to a longer route through the country.

The airlines differ in which airports they use at the other end. In the Tokyo area, you can arrive from Haneda or from Narita, and in the Osaka area from Itami or Kansai. Choosing the airport that matches your hotel or your onward rail ticket saves a good deal of shuffling across a big city on the day you leave.

Nonstop routes by airline

Each carrier flies nonstop from New Chitose to its own list of cities, and the table gathers them in one place. Some cities appear under several names because they have more than one airport, such as Osaka and Tokyo.

Airline	Nonstop from New Chitose to
All Nippon Airways	Fukuoka, Kobe, Komatsu, Osaka–Itami, Tokyo–Haneda, Tokyo–Narita
Japan Airlines	Fukuoka, Nagoya–Centrair, Osaka–Itami, Osaka–Kansai, Tokyo–Haneda
J-Air	Aomori, Hanamaki, Hiroshima, Memanbetsu, Osaka–Itami, Sendai
Jetstar Japan	Nagoya–Centrair, Osaka–Kansai, Tokyo–Narita
Skymark Airlines	Fukuoka, Ibaraki, Kobe, Nagoya–Centrair, Tokyo–Haneda
Spring Japan	Tokyo–Narita

Choosing between the Tokyo airports

Tokyo is served from both of its airports. All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and Skymark Airlines fly to Haneda, while All Nippon Airways, Jetstar Japan and Spring Japan fly to Narita. If you arrive in Japan on an international flight and want to continue north the same day, the airport where you land is often the one that settles the question.

Narita and Haneda are different airports with different ways into central Tokyo, so it helps to match the airline to the place where you will actually be sleeping. Travelers building a loop through Japan often fly into Tokyo, head north to Hokkaido and return south by another route.

Connections from Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka

From the Osaka area, you have the choice of Itami with All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and J-Air, or Kansai with Japan Airlines and Jetstar Japan. Kobe is served too, by All Nippon Airways and Skymark Airlines, which gives travelers based around Kobe a flight from their own airport.

Nagoya connects to Sapporo through Centrair on Japan Airlines, Jetstar Japan and Skymark Airlines. Fukuoka is linked by All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and Skymark Airlines, so Kyushu is not far from Hokkaido on the map of nonstop flights. Hiroshima has a link with J-Air.

Smaller cities with a direct link

Beyond the big hubs, a handful of regional airports have their own connections. J-Air flies to Aomori, Hanamaki, Memanbetsu and Sendai, while All Nippon Airways reaches Komatsu and Skymark Airlines reaches Ibaraki.

These routes suit travelers who are already in the north of Honshu or on another corner of Hokkaido and want to reach Sapporo without going back through a large city. Memanbetsu lies in Hokkaido itself, so that flight is a hop within the island.

Which airport does Sapporo use?

Sapporo uses New Chitose Airport, the largest airport in Hokkaido by both traffic and land area.

It is also one of the more unusual airports in the country. It is one of six 24-hour airports in Japan, and the only inland one, though its terminal keeps daily opening hours unlike other 24-hour airport terminals. Services between 10 PM and 7 AM are limited to six flights a day because of noise concerns, so a late arrival is possible but the night schedule is thin.

The domestic terminal

The domestic terminal is more than a place to wait for a gate. It holds a hot spa, a cinema complex, museums and a 188-room hotel, the Air Terminal Hotel. That makes a long layover or a delayed flight feel less like a loss, since you can soak in a bath or watch a film before boarding.

The domestic bus counter is on the first floor of this terminal building. If you plan to continue by bus rather than rail, that is where you head after collecting your bags.

The international terminal

The international terminal has its own hotel, the Hotel Portom International, described as a luxury property. For anyone landing late from overseas or leaving on an early departure, sleeping at the terminal removes the morning transfer altogether.

On the first floor of the international terminal you will find the international transportation information counter, the place to ask about the way on to the city. The airport was ranked 49th among the top 100 airports in the world by Skytrax in 2024, and it was also named the World’s Most Improved Airport for that year.

Flight restrictions to keep in mind

Operations by certain foreign aircraft, including Chinese and Russian aircraft, are prohibited at New Chitose Airport on Mondays and Thursdays. The restriction applies to those aircraft rather than to the airlines in the domestic table.

For a traveler, the practical sense is that the airport’s schedule has a few quirks, from the cap on night flights to the foreign aircraft days. The domestic routes above are the straightforward way to arrive.

How do you get from New Chitose Airport to the city?

You take the train from New Chitose Airport Station, which connects directly to the basement floor of the terminal building. The fastest service to Sapporo Station is the Rapid Airport train, which takes 37 minutes, and the same line carries on to Otaru Station in 73 minutes at its fastest.

A bus is the other way in. It is slower, and the times below show how much. The station sits inside the airport, so after landing you go down to the basement level and find the platforms without stepping outside, which is a relief on a cold Hokkaido day.

Train and bus times compared

The table gives the approximate time from the airport to three JR stations by each mode. Sapporo Station is the one most visitors want, and Kitahiroshima and Otaru are the other two stops on the list.

Destination	By train	By bus
JR Sapporo Station	About 40 minutes	About 1 hour 50 minutes
JR Kitahiroshima Station	About 20 minutes	About 55 minutes
JR Otaru Station	About 1 hour 15 minutes	About 2 hours 30 minutes

Heading to Sapporo Station

Sapporo Station is about 40 minutes from the airport by train, and the Rapid Airport service can make it in 37 minutes. Arriving by rail drops you at the main station of the city, so you can go straight to a hotel or change to another line.

By bus the same trip takes about 1 hour 50 minutes. The domestic bus counter on the first floor of the domestic terminal is where you arrange it. The longer ride may still suit you if the bus stops closer to where you are staying.

Kitahiroshima and Otaru

JR Kitahiroshima Station is the nearest of the three, about 20 minutes by train and about 55 minutes by bus. It is a stop to know if your lodging lies on that side of the Sapporo area.

Otaru is further, about 1 hour 15 minutes by train and about 2 hours 30 minutes by bus. Because the train runs from the airport station, you can head to Otaru without passing through Sapporo first, which suits a trip that begins with a night by the canal instead of in the city.

Good to know before you go

The U.S. State Department rates Japan Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions.

Bring the usual Japanese habits of carrying some cash for small purchases and keeping your luggage tidy on the train, where bags are best kept close. Hokkaido weather changes with the seasons, so a flight that crosses the island in winter may bring snow, and a layer for the walk from the platform to the street is always welcome. If you arrive late, remember that night services at the airport are limited, so the hotels inside the terminals are a way to rest before the first train.

Sources

Wikipedia, New Chitose Airport, airlines and destinations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Chitose_Airport#Airlines_and_destinations), checked October 11, 2026
New Chitose Airport, Transportation (https://www.new-chitose-airport.jp/en/access/), checked October 11, 2026
U.S. Department of State, Japan travel advisory (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/japan-travel-advisory.html)