Arriving in Sendai: the Airport Access Line, Tapping a Card on the Tozai Line, and Loople
How to get from Sendai Airport into the city on the Sendai Airport Access Line, where a tap-to-pay bank card works on the subway, and what the Loople Sendai bus and its day passes cost since the October 2026 fare change.
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The Sendai Airport Access Line runs from the terminal straight into Sendai Station. If Sendai is part of a longer trip through Tohoku, the JR EAST PASS and its price are in our pass guide, and the Tokyo arrival guide covers the other end of the Shinkansen.
The Airport Access Line
Sendai Airport Transit lists these fares from Sendai Airport, in its revision of 14 March 2026:
| To | Ticket, adult | IC card, adult | Ticket, child | IC card, child |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sendai | 680 yen | 672 yen | 340 yen | 335 yen |
Tohoku’s regional tourism organisation puts the trip at 17 minutes on a rapid and 25 minutes on a local. On the operator’s timetable, the first train from the airport towards Sendai leaves at 5:31 and the last at 23:23.
Tapping a bank card on the subway
Sendai’s subway takes tap-to-pay cards on one line only. The city transport bureau says the readers are at the staffed gates of the Tozai Line, “13駅14改札”, 14 gates at 13 stations, and that you cannot transfer to the Namboku Line on a card tap.
- Brands: Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club, Discover and UnionPay, on credit, debit or prepaid cards and on phones.
- Registration: none needed.
- Fare: the adult regular fare always applies. For a child fare, use a ticket or an IC card.
- How: tap the reader on the way in and again on the way out, and staff open the gate.
The Loople times, the subway and the Access Line timetable all sit on your phone once you land. Saily, set up at home, has you online at the airport. On a longer trip through Japan and beyond, add each country to the same Saily profile.
Loople Sendai
Loople is the sightseeing loop bus from Sendai Station. Its fares rose on 1 October 2026. The Loople and subway day pass, 920 yen before, is now:
| Ticket | Adult | Child |
|---|---|---|
| Single ride | 300 yen | 150 yen |
| One-day Pass for Loople Sendai | 700 yen | 350 yen |
| One-day Pass for Loople Sendai and Subway | 1,000 yen | 500 yen |
The combined pass covers Loople and both subway lines, Tozai and Namboku. The Loople-only pass “cannot be used to board city buses”. On a single ride you pay when you get off, in cash, and Loople says “Contactless payments are also accepted”. Up to two preschool children ride free.
Emergency numbers
The Japan National Tourism Organization lists 110 for police and 119 for fire and ambulance. Its Japan Visitor Hotline, 050-3816-2787, runs 24 hours a day in English, Chinese and Korean.
Saily, a data eSIM you install before you fly and top up per country Our full write-up. (affiliate link)