Airport News Japan

2 Passengers on Each Arriving Flight Win Snow Crabs in Noto Airport Campaign

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Noto Aiport's "Kanidasu 5" web page.

Noto Airport (Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture) began it’s “Come to Noto in winter!” campaign on December 1.

Two passengers arriving on each of the two daily ANA flights between Noto and Haneda are selected in a raffle to win kanogani (Noto snow crabs). Results of the raffle are announced in the arrivals lobby for all arriving passengers on each flight to see (though prizes are mailed to winners). As the Noto Airport Visitor Promotion Committee has been seeking to draw more visitors to the airport, this is the fifth year the campaign has been put on.

Since two passengers will always be selected, the chances of winning are higher on flights with fewer passengers, with odds being 1 in 83 for fully booked flights (166 passengers in total). The committee has set up a website, called Kanidasu 5, where passengers can check what flights have the best odds. The Raffle Odds Forecaster crab informs site visitors of days with high odds (i.e. lots of empty seats) by ranking them in a list. This year also features office staff offering their support in a video segment where they present information on odds.

The committee says that the campaign has gotten attention via in-flight announcements, and that many of the passengers have been rushing to the arrivals lobby with ticket stubs in hand -which serve as raffle tickets- to find out whether they’ve won. In addition to the crabs, ten passengers on each flight win Noto sun-dried salt.

The campaign also makes an active contribution to promoting visits by giving raffle contestants questionnaires on the airport.

The campaign will be ongoing until March 8, excluding the period from December 28 to January 3.

Noto Airport (Japanese)Kanidasu 5 (Japanese)