3-minute walk from the Domestic terminal doors: Parking Lot A
Parking Lot A sits directly in front of the New Chitose Domestic terminal, signed as the official short-term option for drop-offs, pick-ups, and quick visits. You’re on the curb in roughly 3 minutes on foot from the furthest row, so it works well for meeting an arriving flight or handling a fast check-in run. The layout is simple: pull a ticket at the gate, follow the arrows for short-term, and pick a space in the main field facing the terminal.
Rates at Parking Lot A run on a short-stay model, with charges calculated by the hour rather than a flat day. That structure favors stays under about 6–8 hours, such as quick business trips to Sapporo or a same-day hop. Payment machines at the exit gates accept cash and most standard cards, and receipts print automatically, which helps if you need to expense the parking.
Parking Lot A serves mainly Domestic terminal users; International passengers generally favor the larger long-term areas positioned closer to that building. If you are connecting from Domestic to International and expect to be back the same day, Parking Lot A still makes sense because the domestic–international transfer inside the airport usually runs under 20 minutes walking. For overnight international trips, the hourly structure here tends to add up faster than the long-term lots.
Access is straightforward from Route 36: follow signs for New Chitose Airport Domestic and then the clearly marked "Parking A" entrance just before the terminal loop. Traffic peaks around morning departures, typically 08:00–10:00, when local flights cluster and spaces near the front fill first. If you arrive during that window, plan 5 extra minutes to circle the aisles and aim for the mid-lot rows instead of the front ones.
Practical tip: snap a photo of your row marker and ticket as soon as you park; it speeds up payment at the machine and saves you hunting through near-identical aisles when you return.