Kansai International Airport
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| Kansai International Airport 関西国際空港 Kansai Kokusai Kūkō |
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| IATA: KIX - ICAO: RJBB | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | quasi-public | ||
| Operator | Kansai International Airport Co., Ltd. | ||
| Serves | Osaka, Japan | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 49 ft (15 m) | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 6/24 | 11,400 | 3,500 | Paved |
| 6L/24R | 13,123 | 4,000 | Under Construction (To be opened on August 2, 2007) |
| Statistics (2005) | |||
| Number of Passengers | 16,428,399 | ||
| Aircraft Movements | 112,579 | ||
| Freight Volume | 843,368 t | ||
Kansai International Airport (関西国際空港 Kansai Kokusai Kūkō?) (IATA: KIX, ICAO: RJBB) is an international airport located on an artificial island in the middle of Osaka Bay, off the shore of Sennan district of Osaka, Japan. It is colloquially known as Osaka Airport in English, and as 関空 (Kankū?) in Japanese. During FY 2005, KIX had 112,579 aircraft movements, of which 72,251 were international, and 40,328 were domestic. The total number of passengers was 16,428,399 of which 11,139,336 were international, and 5,289,063 were domestic. Freight volume was at 843,368 tonnes total, of which 800,555 t were international, and 42,813 t were domestic.[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
In the 1960s, when the Kansai region was rapidly losing trade to Tokyo, planners proposed a new airport near Kobe and Osaka. Osaka International Airport, located in the densely-populated suburbs of Itami and Toyonaka, was surrounded by buildings; it could not be expanded, and many of its neighbors had filed complaints because of noise pollution problems.
After the protests surrounding New Tokyo International Airport (now Narita International Airport), which was built with expropriated land in a rural part of Chiba prefecture, planners decided to build the airport offshore. Initially, the airport was planned to be built near Kobe, but the city of Kobe refused the plan, so the airport was moved to a more southerly location on Osaka Bay. There, it could be open 24 hours per day, unlike its predecessor in the city. Local fishermen were the only group to protest, but they were silenced by hefty compensation packages.
A man-made island, 4 km long and 1 km wide, was proposed. Engineers needed to overcome the extremely high risks of earthquakes and typhoons (with storm surges of up to 3 meters).
Construction started in 1987. The sea wall was finished in 1989 (made of rocks and 48,000 tetrahedral concrete blocks). Three mountains were excavated for 21 million cubic meters of landfill. 10,000 workers and 10 million work hours over 3 years, using 80 ships, were needed to complete the thirty-meter layer of earth over the sea floor and inside the sea wall. In 1990, a three-kilometer bridge was completed to connect the island to the mainland at Rinku-Town, at a cost of $1 billion.
The island had been predicted to gradually sink as the weight of the material used to construct the island would cause it to compress downwards. However, by this time, the island had sunk 8 meters, much more than predicted. The project then became the most expensive civil works project in modern history after 20 years of planning, 3 years of construction and several billion dollars of investment.
In 1991, the terminal construction commenced. To compensate for the sinking of the island, adjustable columns were designed to support the terminal building. These could be extended by inserting thick metal plates at their base. The airport opened in 1994.
On January 17, 1995, Japan was struck by the Kobe earthquake, whose epicenter was approximately 20 km away from KIX and killed 6,434 people on Japan's main island of Honshū. The airport, however, emerged unscathed, mostly due to the use of sliding joints in its construction. Even the glass in the windows stayed intact. Later, in 1998, the airport survived a typhoon with wind speeds of up to 200 km/h.
On April 19, 2001, the airport was one of ten structures given the "Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium" award by the American Society of Civil Engineers. [2]
[edit] Outlook
Opened on September 4, 1994, the airport serves as a hub for several airlines such as All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, and Nippon Cargo Airlines. It is the international gateway for Japan, Kansai region, which contains the major cities of Kyoto, Kobe, and Osaka. Some domestic flights fly from the older but more conveniently located Osaka International Airport in Itami, or from the newer Kobe Airport.
The total cost of Kansai Airport so far is $15 billion, which is 40% over budget.[citation needed] This was mostly due to engineering costs affiliated with the problem of the island sinking. After construction, the rate of sinkage was considered so severe that the airport became known as a notorious structural engineering disaster, however, the sinking has now slowed and the airport's viability seems no longer in jeopardy as some of the initial worst-case projections had predicted. The airport is still deeply in debt, losing $560 million in interest every year. Airlines have been kept away by high landing fees (approximately $7500 for a Boeing 747), the second most expensive in the world after Narita's. Partly because of these and other problems, the airport is often referred as being a white elephant. Nowadays, after deep discounts, the number of flights is increasing.
On February 17, 2005, Chubu Centrair International Airport opened in Nagoya, just east of Osaka. The opening of the airport is expected to increase competition between Japan's international airports. Also, the opening of Kobe Airport, less than 25 km away, in 2006 is expected to further give KIX competition on domestic flights.
Kansai has been marketed as an alternative to Narita Airport for international travelers from the Greater Tokyo Area. By flying to Kansai from Haneda Airport and connecting to international flights there, travelers can save the additional time required to get to Narita: up to one and a half hours for many residents of Kanagawa Prefecture and southern Tokyo.
The rate of sinking has slowed down markedly in recent years, falling from 50 cm during 1994 to 7 cm in 2006.[3] In 2003, believing that the sinking problem was almost over, the airport operators started the construction of a 4,000m second runway, with an estimated project cost of ¥1.56 trillion (approx. US$15 billion). Since the airport is at its limit on "peak" times, a portion of Phase II, including the second runway, is scheduled to become operational on August 2, 2007, in time for the Osaka World Expo. [4] Further into the future, the airport is planning to construct a new terminal building, several aprons, and a third 3500 meter runway.
[edit] Terminal
KIX has a single four-story terminal designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop (Renzo Piano and Noriaki Okabe). It is the longest airport terminal in the world, at a total length of 1.7 km from end to end: a sophisticated people mover system moves passengers from one end of the pier to the other.
The terminal's roof is shaped like an airfoil. This shape is used to promote air circulation through the building: giant air conditioning ducts blow air upwards at one side of the terminal, circulate the air across the curvature of the ceiling, and collect the air through intakes at the other side. Mobiles are suspended in the ticketing hall to take advantage of the flowing air.
The ticketing hall overlooks the international departures concourse, and the two are separated by a glass partition. During Kansai's early days, visitors were known to throw objects over the partition to friends in the corridor below. The partition was eventually modified to halt this practice.
[edit] International carriers
International arrivals go to immigration and baggage claim on the first floor. International departures are ticketed on the fourth floor and board from the third floor.
[edit] North Wing
(Gates 1-16, 101-103)
- Air Canada (Vancouver)
- Air Tahiti Nui (Papeete)
- Alitalia (Milan-Malpensa)
- All Nippon Airways (Beijing, Dalian, Guam, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Shenyang, Qingdao, Xiamen)
- Asiana Airlines (Busan, Seoul-Incheon)
- Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong, Taipei-Taiwan Taoyuan)
- China Southern Airlines (Dalian, Guangzhou, Harbin, Shenyang)
- EVA Air (Taipei-Taiwan Taoyuan)
- Finnair (Helsinki)
- Garuda Indonesia (Denpasar/Bali, Jakarta)
- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Amsterdam)
- Korean Air (Busan, Jeju, Seoul-Incheon)
- Malaysia Airlines (Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur)
- MIAT Mongolian (Ulaanbaatar) [seasonal]
- Northwest Airlines (Detroit, Guam, Honolulu, Taipei-Taiwan Taoyuan)
- Qantas
- Jetstar Airways (Brisbane, Sydney)
- Qatar Airways (Doha)
- Royal Nepal Airlines (Kathmandu)
- Shanghai Airlines (Shanghai-Pudong)
- Turkish Airlines (Istanbul-Atatürk)
- United Airlines (Honolulu, San Francisco)
- Uzbekistan Airways (Tashkent)
[edit] South Wing
(Gates 26-41, 111-113)
- Air Caledonie International (Noumea)
- Air China (Beijing, Dalian, Shanghai-Pudong)
- Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
- Air India (Delhi, Mumbai, Hong Kong)
- Air New Zealand (Auckland, Christchurch)
- China Eastern Airlines (Beijing, Nanjing, Kunming, Qingdao, Shanghai-Pudong, Yantai)
- EgyptAir (Cairo)
- Emirates (Dubai)
- Hainan Airlines (Haikou)
- Japan Airlines (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Beijing, Busan, Dalian, Denpasar, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Kuala Lumpur, London-Heathrow, Qingdao, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Singapore)
- JALways (Denpasar, Guam)
- Japan Asia Airways (Taipei-Taiwan Taoyuan)
- Lufthansa (Frankfurt)
- Philippine Airlines (Manila)
- Singapore Airlines (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Singapore)
- Thai Airways International (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Manila, Phuket)
- Vietnam Airlines (Ho Chi Minh City)
- Xiamen Airlines (Hangzhou, Xiamen)
[edit] Domestic carriers
Arrivals, departures, ticketing, and baggage claim are all on the second floor.
(Gates 16-20, 201-202)
- All Nippon Airways (Fukuoka, Goto Fukue, Hakodate, Ishigaki, Kagoshima, Memanbetsu, Miyazaki, Okinawa, Sapporo Chitose, Tokyo-Haneda, Wakkanai)
(Gates 20-26, 211-212)
- All Nippon Airways (Matsuyama, Miyakojima, Tokyo-Haneda)
- Japan Airlines (Akita, Aomori, Asahikawa, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Hakodate, Kushiro, Memambetsu, Obihiro, Okinawa, Sapporo Chitose, Tokyo-Haneda)
- Japan Transocean Air (Ishigaki, Okinawa)
[edit] Cargo carriers
(Airlines that operate only cargo flights into the airport)
- Air Hong Kong
- Dragonair
- Federal Express
- Nippon Cargo Airlines
- Scandinavian Airlines System
- United Parcel Service
- China Postal Airlines
- Jade Cargo International
- Yangtze River Express Airlines
- Cargo Italia
[edit] Ground transportation
[edit] Rail
Kansai International Airport is connected only by the Sky Gate Bridge R, a road / railroad bridge to Rinku Town and the mainland. The lower railroad level of the bridge is used by two railroad operators: West Japan Railway (JR-West) and Nankai Electric Railway.
JR-West operates Haruka, the limited express train services for Kansai Airport Station from Tennoji, Shin-Osaka and Kyoto Station. JR-West also offers "Airport Rapid" services for the airport station from Osaka and Kyobashi Station, as well as several stations on the way. Various connections, such as buses, subways, trams, and other railroads, are available at each station.
Nankai operates Rapi:t, a limited express train service to Namba Station on the southern edge of downtown Osaka. Subway connections are available at Namba and Tengachaya Station.
Railroad plans were drawn up in the late 1980s for an underwater railway connecting Kansai Airport to downtown Kobe and Kobe Airport, although the extremely high cost of the project led to its indefinite postponement.
[edit] Bus
Kansai Airport Transportation Enterprise and other code-sharing bus operators offer scheduled express bus services, called "Airport Limousines", for Kansai International Airport. The followings are estimated travel time and fare for each destination:
- Wakayama: 40 min., ¥1,100
- Osaka Station: 60 min., ¥1,300
- Sannomiya Station: 65 min., ¥1,800
- Universal Studios Japan: 70 min., ¥1,300
- Itami Airport: 70 min., ¥1,700
- Nara: 85 min., ¥1,800
- Kyoto: 100 min., ¥2,300
- Himeji: 130 min., ¥3,000
There are other destinations.
- Takamatsu and Naruto, Japan
- Tokushima
- Okayama
- Takatsuki
- Nishinomiya
- Amagasaki
- Keihanna Science City
- Hirakata and Uji
- Moriguchi
[edit] Parking
Two six-story parking structures, called P1 and P2, are above a railroad terminal station, while the other two level parking facilities, called P3 and P4, are adjacent to "Aeroplaza", a hotel complex.
The airport is only accessible from the Sky Gate Bridge R, a part of Kansai Airport Expressway. The expressway immedeately connects to Hanshin Expressways Route 5, "Wangan Route", and Hanwa Expressway.
[edit] Hydrofoil
Hydrofoils operated by Pearl Line run between Kansai Airport and Awaji Island. The trip takes 50 minutes and costs ¥2,500 each way. Hydrofoil service between Kansai Airport and Kobe is scheduled to begin again in July 2006, a previous service having ceased in 2002.
[edit] Trivia
- Until the construction of KIX, Osaka Prefecture was the smallest prefecture (by area) in Japan. The man-made island added just enough land to make Osaka larger than Kagawa Prefecture, now the smallest prefecture.
- KIX was awarded "Monuments of the Millennium" by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
- KIX ranked 4th overall in the Airport of the Airport of the Year 2006 awards named by Skytrax (a research company U.K.).
[edit] References
- ^ Kansai International Airport Statistics - Kansai International Airport Co., Ltd.
- ^ U.S. Engineering Society names Kansai International Airport a Civel Engineering Monument of the Millenium - Press release from American Society of Civil Engineers
- ^ Kansai International Airport Co., Ltd. - Condition of Settlement
- ^ Kansai International Airport - News Release - Jun 11. 2006 - Second runway to be opened for use on August 2, 2007
[edit] External links
