Japanese Government 777-300ER tail 80-1111 flies 2-mile hop at New Chitose Airport

Japanese Government / Imperial Flight's Boeing 777-300ER, tail 80-1111, flew from New Chitose Airport to New Chitose Airport on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. The aircraft departed at 03:16 UTC and landed at 03:37 UTC, spending 20 minutes in the air. The flight covered a great-circle distance of 2 nautical miles, or about 2 miles, with an average ground speed of 6 knots. The highest altitude recorded was 3,875 feet, and the top ground speed reached 255 knots. The aircraft burned an estimated 341 US gallons of fuel, producing about 3,277 kilograms of CO2, roughly the same as driving a car 8,111 miles.

The 777-300ER is a long-range wide-body jet built for intercontinental missions, with a typical range of over 7,000 nautical miles and seating for about 150 passengers. The aircraft operates from New Chitose Airport, which has a longest runway of 9,843 feet and an elevation of 82 feet. The home base for Japanese Government / Imperial Flight is Tokyo Haneda International Airport, 443 nautical miles from Sapporo. The aircraft's usual destinations include Beijing, Seoul, New Delhi, Los Angeles, New York, and Paris.

In the 30 days before this flight, Japanese Government / Imperial Flight's two aircraft made 22 flights totaling 62.7 hours in the air. The most common destination in that window was Sapporo, with 23 landings, followed by Tokyo with 8 landings. The last landing at Sapporo before this flight was on October 19, 2026, by the other 777-300ER, tail 80-1112. That aircraft flew a 2-hour 48-minute flight from Sapporo to Sapporo on the same day. The previous tracked landing for tail 80-1111 was on October 16, 2026, at Sapporo, after a 1-hour 39-minute flight from Chitose.

Japanese Government / Imperial Flight operates two Boeing 777-300ERs for the Prime Minister and the Imperial Family, always deploying together for heads-of-state missions. The aircraft are based at Chitose Air Base in Hokkaido and frequently stage through Tokyo Haneda. Japan is a top-20 economy and G7 member, meaning these aircraft appear at virtually every major multilateral summit. The short hop at New Chitose is consistent with routine repositioning between the civilian and military sides of the same airfield, as seen in past movements tracked by Celebplanes. A similar 4-minute hop was recorded on August 14, 2026, when tail 80-1111 moved from New Chitose to Chitose Air Base. The aircraft's presence in Hokkaido may align with seasonal patterns, as the Imperial Family has historically used the region for summer respites, according to a Celebplanes article from August 2026.

Before this flight, the aircraft had been on the ground for about 4 days, since its previous tracked landing at Sapporo on October 16, 2026. In the 30 days prior, the owner's two aircraft made 39 tracked flights, with the longest leg being a 5,285-nautical-mile flight from Elmira/Corning to Sapporo on September 23, 2026, flown by tail 80-1112.

The flight follows a period of sustained activity in Hokkaido, with both aircraft making multiple short hops around the region since early October. The 20-minute flight on October 20 adds to a pattern of local movements rather than long-haul state visits.

Recent flights by the same owner include a 49-minute, 54-nautical-mile hop from Hakodate to Sapporo on October 14, 2026, by tail 80-1111. On October 8, 2026, tail 80-1112 flew a 3-hour, 7-nautical-mile flight from Chitose to Sapporo, and a 31-minute, 15-nautical-mile flight from Sapporo to Sapporo.