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Kansai International Airport

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{| class="infobox bordered" style="width: 220px; font-size: 95%;" |- ! colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Kansai International Airport
関西国際空港 |- |align="center" colspan="4"|200px

|- !colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Runways |- !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Direction !bgcolor="lightgrey" colspan="2"|Length !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Surface |- !bgcolor="lightgrey"|ft !bgcolor="lightgrey"|m |- !align="left" valign="top"|6/24 |valign="top" align="right"|11,400 |valign="top" align="right"|3,500 |valign="top"|Paved |- !align="left" valign="top"|6/24 |valign="top" align="right"|13,123 |valign="top" align="right"|4,000 |valign="top"|Under Construction (To be opened in August 2, 2007) |- !bgcolor="#4682B4" colspan="4"|Statistics (2004) |- ! colspan="3"|Number of Passengers |15,340,975 |- ! colspan="3"|Aircraft Movements |102,862 |-

, 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 or .

During FY 2004, KIX had 102,862 aircraft movements, of which 72,096 were international, and 30,766 were domestic. The total number of passengers was 15,340,975 of which 11,162,533 were international, and 4,178,422 were domestic.[link]

Contents

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 confiscated 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.

Satellite photo of Kansai Airport (lower-right island) in Osaka Bay. Kobe Airport is being built on the unfinished island near the middle of the photo. Central Osaka is in the upper-right corner.
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Satellite photo of Kansai Airport (lower-right island) in Osaka Bay. Kobe Airport is being built on the unfinished island near the middle of the photo. Central Osaka is in the upper-right corner.

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.

In 1995, Japan was struck by the Kobe earthquake, whose epicenter was just 20 km away and killed 6,433 people on the Honshu. 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.

In 2001, the airport was one of ten structures given the "Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium" award by the American Society of Civil Engineers. [link]

Outlook

Second phase of Kansai International Airport under construction
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Second phase of Kansai International Airport under construction

Opened on September 4, 1994, the airport is a hub for several airlines such as All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, and Nippon Cargo Airlines. It is the international gateway for Kansai region, which contains the major cities of Kyoto, Kobe, and Osaka. Most 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 (mostly due to the problem of the island sinking). 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 (just 17 cm in 2002). 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 is scheduled to become operational in 2007. Later on, the airport is planning to construct a new terminal building, apron, and a third runway.

Terminal

4th floor ticketing hall, illustrating the terminal's airfoil roof.
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4th floor ticketing hall, illustrating the terminal's airfoil roof.

1st floor arrivals hall from above.
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1st floor arrivals hall from above.

3rd floor passport control lanes leading to the departures concourse. Note the blue air ducts, which are part of the building's air conditioning system. Domestic flights are handled from a separate concourse directly underneath this area on the second floor. This photograph was taken from the fourth-floor ticketing area.
Enlarge
3rd floor passport control lanes leading to the departures concourse. Note the blue air ducts, which are part of the building's air conditioning system. Domestic flights are handled from a separate concourse directly underneath this area on the second floor. This photograph was taken from the fourth-floor ticketing area.

3rd floor boarding lobby, part of the longest airport concourse in the world.
3rd floor boarding lobby, part of the longest airport concourse in the world.

The ground level of the terminal looking north from the center
Enlarge
The ground level of the terminal looking north from the center

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.

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.

North Wing

(Gates 1-16, 101-103)

South Wing

(Gates 26-41, 111-113)

Domestic carriers

Arrivals, departures, ticketing, and baggage claim are all on the second floor.

(Gates 16-20, 201-202)

(Gates 20-26, 211-212)

Cargo carriers

(Airlines that operate only cargo flights into the airport)

Ground transportation

Rail

rapi:t, Nankai Railway's limited express train to Namba Station. One way (for adult) 1,390 yen.
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rapi:t, Nankai Railway's limited express train to Namba Station. One way (for adult) 1,390 yen.

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]], the faster limited express train services than the other. All of Nankai's train services terminate at 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.

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:

Parking

Two six-story parking structure, 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.

Hydrofoil

Hydrofoils operated by Pearl Line [link] 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.

External links

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