In Japan, airports are grouped into three legal classifications.

According to the Airport Development Law (空港整備法), the government pays any budget for building airports and maintains them. However, passenger terminals are generally given to private corporate operators.

Table of contents
1 First class airports
2 Second class airports
3 Third class airports
4 Other airports

First class airports

These handle intercontinental flights. There are currently four, with a fifth under construction (Chubu International Airport in Aichi prefecture).

Following the ANA flight 61 hijacking (July 1999), the family of a killed pilot sued the governments to compensate their loss, for the reason that Haneda Airport is classified as a first class airport.

Second class airports

These handle regional and some international flights. There are currently twenty-six, with another under construction (New Kitakyushu Airport, Fukuoka prefecture).

Third class airports

These handle domestic feeder flights. There are currently fifty-two, with four more under construction (Kobe Airport, New Ishigaki Airport, New Tarama Airport, and Shizuoka Airport). Many third-class airports are small airstrips serving isolated islands of the archipelago.

Other airports

Civil airports that are not classified under this system include: