Hiroshima Airport — designated HIJ in international routing — opened its current terminal in 1993, replacing a coastal facility that had served commercial aviation since 1961. The airport sits 50 kilometres east of Hiroshima city centre in Mihara, a placement that requires every arriving visitor to solve a ground-transport equation: taxi, shared bus, or private car. The terminal handles roughly 1.3 million passengers annually, most connecting through Tokyo or Osaka, and its single runway accommodates narrow-body jets from All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, and a handful of seasonal charter operators. Unlike Kansai or Narita, HIJ offers no direct rail link — the nearest shinkansen station lies 15 kilometres north in Higashi-Hiroshima, itself a transfer point that adds complexity rather than speed. Private transfer services emerged in the early 2000s as hotel concierges began contracting independent drivers to meet international guests, a response to the logistical gap between arrival gate and city hotel. Today, the private airport transfer model spans three vehicle classes: standard sedans for solo travellers or pairs, executive saloons with leather interiors for business arrivals, and eight-seat vans for families moving between HIJ and Miyajima ferry terminals. Most operators quote flat rates rather than metered fares, a structure that hedges against the expressway tolls and variable traffic along Route 2. The drive into central Hiroshima takes 45 to 55 minutes under normal conditions; the route to Miyajima's pier stretches to 70 minutes, threading through coastal industrial zones before opening onto Seto Inland Sea views. The service layer reflects Hiroshima's dual identity as a domestic business hub and an international pilgrimage site. Corporate travellers favour sedans with child-seat compatibility and multilingual drivers; tour groups moving from airport to Peace Memorial Park or Itsukushima Shrine prioritise vans with luggage capacity and flexible drop-off points. Demand peaks in spring during cherry-blossom season and again in November when maple foliage draws visitors to Momijidani Park. Operators maintain 24-hour dispatch to cover early-morning departures and late arrivals, though services between 21:40 and 07:00 — when the terminal closes — require advance coordination. The pricing spread runs from ¥8,000 for a city-centre sedan to ¥18,000 for a van traveling to Miyajima, figures that undercut Tokyo's airport-transfer rates by roughly 30 percent while offering comparable door-to-door reliability.