Ibaraki Airport has won the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation's best low-cost airport of the year award.
The airport, which opened last year in Ibaraki Prefecture about 40 km north of Tokyo, received the award for being the most "innovative and influential" airport in the Asia-Pacific region, an official of the Sydney-based CAPA said Thursday.
An official from Ibaraki said some of the factors for the airport's success could be its proximity to Tokyo, its ability to keep the fees it charges to budget airlines low and a highly popular route run by China's Spring Airlines between the airport and Shanghai.
The facility suffered only slight damage to the ceiling of its terminal during the massive earthquake that hit in March and was able to reopen and resume operations a few days later.
It also played a supporting role in the crisis by accepting flights from the Tokyo area's other airports to ease congestion during the chaos.
"Despite serious setbacks following the March earthquake and tsunami, Ibaraki has continued to provide outstanding service to the low-cost airline industry," Peter Harbinson, executive chairman of CAPA, said.