Mishima-Umikyo Airport - Celebrating a century of aviation in Umikyo

[Mikochi]

Introduction

As we approach the 100-year anniversary that marks the opening of Umikyo Airport, the first airport facility in Mikochi, let's take a look back at the airport's history. This will be broken into three parts:

1. History of the Airport, and aviation in Umikyo.
2. Re-construction of the airport in the 1960s, and the attempted first expansion in 1971.
3. The reopening of Mishima-Umikyo airport.

Part One

Mishima-Umikyo Airport, originally named Umikyo Airport until 1984 is the main international airport serving the city of Umikyo and Hangoku island. It is the largest of Umikyo’s three airports, the others being Aruda Airport (formerly Tengoku Airport) and Kaiyomichi Airport.

Mikochi’s government constructed the airport as a military aerodrome. In 1926, to house the majority of the newly created Imperial Airforce in response to rising tensions in the lead up to the Second Aurelian War. During the war, a second, larger airfield was constructed in Kaiyomichi, to increase the capacity for Mikochi’s allies to launch air missions against the Mitonese Empire. 

In the later years of the war, construction began on Tengoku airfield, near the city of Aruda. Tengoku Airfield was planned to be much larger than both Umikyo and Kaiyomichi airport, however with the war’s end, Tengoku Airfield shifted from a military to a civilian focus.

Following the war, the Imperial Air Force moved to Kaiyomichi, as it was much more suitable than Umikyo Airport. Meanwhile, Tengoku Airport had taken the role of Umikyo’s civil airport, leaving no demand for a third airport in the city. This left Umikyo Airport abandoned. Although several attempts were made to develop the land, many potential housing projects were shut down due to the ground pollution, and the area had a lack of demand for industry.

As Mikochi industrialised and civil aviation became more established in the wurld, the ability for Tengoku Airport to serve the city started to diminish. The site had little room to expand, and it was decided that a new airport needed to be built to keep up with the demand for more flights. Two potential sites were found, including the old Umikyo Airport grounds in Mishima and a large area of rural land north of the city, near Seiburi. Both sites had polarising pros and cons. The Seiburi site would be cheaper to develop, and offer more room for future expansion, however its location was much less central than Mishima. 

After fierce debate and careful deliberation, the Mishima site emerged victorious, chosen to host the grand new gateway to Umikyo. With the site selected, it now came down to the design of the airport. The current Tenno of Mikochi had taken a personal interest in the project, and wanted an airport that was impressive not only in technicality, but also in design. One that would help put Mikochi on the wurld stage. Three renowned architectural firms—Hrymark, Xarkhakos & Partners, and De Lacarrole e Associati—each presented their visions for the airport.

Xarkhakos & Partners’ airport would feature huge domes and arches and a grand Aroman-styled lobby. On the other hand, the airport designed by the Mavran firm Hrymark featured huge, art deco pillars and grand Lysian windows. However, the overall winning design went to the Ocraly company De Lacarrole e Associati, founded by Hubert de Lacarrole. Their design featured a much larger terminal and a second, diagonal runway, allowing for a higher potential throughput. Additionally, the design would feature a 12-story hotel built into the Airport, which would make it an attractive airport for stopovers and business use. Finally, the plans included an option for a monorail station to conveniently link it to Mishima Train Station, to provide better connection to the centre of Umikyo.

With the design chosen, it would take 3 years for the architectural plans, logistics, and funding for the project to come through. However, before any work could begin, the old airfield needed to be completely demolished and the site had to be prepared for the construction of the new airport. The abandoned runway lay fractured and tangled with wild grass, whilst old airfield buildings lay in disrepair, all of which needed flattening. Umikyo airport would turn out to become the largest construction project in modern Mikochinese history at this time.

Edited September 12 by Mikochi (see edit history)

[Mikochi]

Part 2

The demolition was more complex than initially anticipated; beneath the crumbling asphalt and concrete lay extensive soil contamination from the military past of the airport. Workers found oil leaks, buried munitions and chemical residue, all of which needed to be carefully removed or neutralised. The clean-up process delayed construction by several months, causing increased costs and issues.

Further complicating matters was opposition from local communities; whilst the airport promised economic development within Mishima, residents were concerned with the increased noise and air pollution and the impact the project would have on local infrastructure. Several demonstrations were held, however following a large protest in 1963, violence broke out with the police, and several protesters were… peacefully put down. This prompted a wider crackdown on the movement, and hundreds of associated figures were arrested and sent to labour camps.

There was little opposition after this, and construction continued in earnest. By 1967, the main terminal and facilities had been completed. An elevated monorail, one of the first and longest of its kind, was installed, connecting both Mishima port and Mishima train station and the airport. The airport looked set for its 1969 opening date, with only interior works and checks awaiting completion. 

By mid 1969, construction had neared completion. The grand opening ceremony for the airport was set for the 10th of November 1969, with the Tenno of Mikochi set to attend and cut the red tape. Arriving on the newly built monorail, the Tenno presided over the event, along with various other government officials and aviation representatives from across the Wurld. The ceremony was a spectacle, featuring a military flyover from the Imperial Air Force. The Airport symbolised not just a transport facility, but a brand-new chapter in Umikyo’s history.

A Mikochi Air wrapped plane

The first scheduled flight was a direct route to Maimedo International Airport in nearby Esonice. Plane travel between Mikochi and other countries within the Lotus Sea had begun to grow in recent years, with traditional, slower routes via sea beginning to lose popularity. Many routes operating out of Tengoku Airport were gradually moved over to Umikyo airport, due to its easier access to the city and higher passenger comfort. Many new routes out of Mikochi opened, such as to Ocraly, Sunset Sea Islands, Iverica, as well as many other countries in Aurelia and Alharu. A heavily restricted route was even opened to the typically isolationist Florentia. Air traffic gradually grew more and more, and by 1971, talks of expansion were already on the table. 

Investors saw a need for a cargo airport serving the capital, and Umikyo Airport had both the room and facilities for the expansion. Construction would focus on adding a third runway, as well as a series of modern warehouses and logistics facilities on the eastern side of the airport. Whilst the airport already had limited use for cargo and airmail, the expansion sought to separate cargo and passenger operations, allowing for smoother operations and greater capacity.

The expansion would be primarily designed by De Lacarrole e Associati, and by 1973, construction was ready to begin. Except it didn’t. 1973 saw some of the worst rainfall in Mikochinese history, and the typhoon season was exceptionally brutal, disrupting not only construction of the expansion, but normal airport operations. 

The proposed expansion

Construction finally began in early 1974 at a rapid pace, with the expansion on track for completion by 1978. But history had other plans for Mikochi. Discontent over decades of autarky and autocracy finally erupted in the summer of 1976. The skies over the nation darkened as the nation was thrown into civil war, and almost overnight, the ambitious expansion became a casualty of the conflict. Investors pulled their funds, construction workers fled or became conscripts, and the once bustling construction fell silent.

What began as an uprising far away from the capital in 1976 grew into a serious conflict at the gates of Umikyo just 2 years later. Previously, limited civilian flights continued to operate, however with the fight making its way to the capital, the airport was closed. Within weeks, Umikyo Airport transformed into a stronghold for the loyalist Tengoku forces. The airport’s central hotel turned into a command centre, partially constructed warehouses provided cover for munitions, whilst the sprawling grounds of the airport served as makeshift barracks. 

By late 1979, with the impending fall of Kaiyomichi Airbase to the socialists, the Imperial Airforce retreated to Umikyo Airport. However, this desperate measure only made the airport a prime target for the rebels. The defenders fought with grim determination, but the relentless bombardment from socialist artillery and raids took its toll. As the siege dragged on, Umikyo Airport, once a hub of hope and aspiration, had become a charred, broken fortress.

A graphic showing the battle for Umikyo over several months

When the war finally ended in 1980, Umikyo Airport lay in ruins once more, its runways scattered with shell holes, terminals shattered and the once-modern facilities reduced to rubble. What had once been Umikyo’s — and Mikochi’s — beacon of progress, welcoming tourists from across the Wurld, had turned into a ghostly monument to a conflict that had literally torn the nation apart. The empty shell of an airport became a relic of a past filled with hope and prosperity, now overshadowed with destruction and disrepair.

Mikochi’s transition into a socialist republic brought a huge change to the nation, both on the political and economic scenes. The demand for tourism and business travel was at an all-time low, and international travelers shunned the once-vibrant city, it’s streets still scarred by recent battles. When civil aviation finally returned to Umikyo, Aruda Airport, formerly Tengoku Airport, reclaimed its position as the city’s primary hub. Umikyo would need to rebuild, and there was no time to revive the once grand Umikyo airport that no longer had any use.