New Bus Service from Chitose Airport
A new year-round daily bus service connecting Furano directly to Chitose Airport will begin on August 10. The service is called Bus Gori Liner Furano.
Hokkaido Bus company is offering this new service. Until now, direct bus service to Chitose airport was only available during the ski season. Other busses to Sapporo Station, Obihiro, or Asahikawa do operate year-round, but the Chitose airport-direct bus was only in the winter. No longer.
There are four busses per day departing from Chitose Airport bus stop #23 at 10:30, 11:45, 14:30 and 17:30, and arriving in Furano about 2 hours later. Likewise, there are four busses per day departing from Furano at 7:30, 11:00, 14:00, and 15:30, and also taking about 2 hours to arrive in Chitose. I would imagine the winter travel time will be slightly longer.
There are three stops in Furano to either board or disembark: near Furano Station, Kisen (in Kitanomine), and the New Prince Hotel.
The fare is 5,000 yen for adults, and 2,500 yen for kids up thru 11. This is a reservation-only bus. You can reserve online up to 2 months in advance, and up to 1 hour before departure. No English-speaking staff are available to speak on the phone, so your only option is to book online. Right now, that is proving to be a bit confusing and difficult, but hopefully that will be smoothed out soon.
This is a significant upgrade for Furano visitors traveling to/from from Chitose.
Stay tuned for further reservation site information.
See you in Furano.