Osaka 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;" |Osaka International Airport
大阪国際空港 |- |align="center" colspan="4"|
|- !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"|14R/32L |valign="top" align="right"|9,840 |valign="top" align="right"|2,999 |valign="top"|Concrete |- !align="left" valign="top"|14L/32R |valign="top" align="right"|5,997 |valign="top" align="right"|1,828 |valign="top"|Paved
is the primary domestic airport for the Kansai region of Japan, including the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. It is classified as a first class airport.The airport is often called because most of its land is located in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture. However, the terminal complex is located in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, and the only access from the Itami side is via a long tunnel that passes below the runway and apron.
Despite its "international" designation, the airport's scheduled air traffic is entirely domestic. Kansai International Airport (27mi away) took over Osaka's international traffic in 1994 and competes with Itami for domestic traffic. Itami also faces competition from Kobe Airport (16mi away), a smaller domestic airport opened in 2006.
History
Itami Airport opened as the in 1939, and was primarily used by the Imperial Japanese Army during its early years.
U.S. occupation forces took over Osaka Airport after the end of World War II in 1945, renaming it Itami Air Base. In 1954, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio stopped at Itami during their honeymoon, and in 1956, the base was used in the filming of the movie Sayonara.
Itami was renamed following its return to Japanese control in 1958, and officially became an international airport in 1959.
Because Itami was located in the middle of a large residential area, its expansion was severely limited, and noise and pollution problems impacted operations at the airport. In a widely-publicized 1981 ruling, the Supreme Court of Japan ordered the government to pay damages to residents of surrounding communities and impose limits on operating hours at the airport.
To alleviate some of these problems, Kansai International Airport was built on an artificial island in Osaka Bay. There were originally plans to close Itami Airport following the opening of Kansai, but nearby communities opposed such a move for economic reasons, so Itami was retained as a domestic-only airport after Kansai opened in 1994. The only international flight to use Itami since 1994 was Air Force One carrying U.S. President George W. Bush on a state visit in November 2005.
With the ongoing expansion of Kansai Airport and the opening of a third regional airport in Kobe, the Osaka metropolitan area is facing a surplus of flight slots. In September 2004, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that aircraft with more than two engines would be banned at Itami Airport effective April 2006. While part of the reasoning behind this move is to reduce noise around the airport, many area residents have opposed the restriction as an unnecessary impediment on the airport.
Airlines and destinations
- All Nippon Airways (Fukuoka, Iwami, Kagoshima, Kochi, Kumamoto, Matsuyama, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Niigata, Oita, Okinawa, Saga, Sapporo-Chitose, Sendai, Tokyo-Haneda, Tokyo-Narita)
- Fairinc (Fukushima, Matsuyama, Oita, Sendai, Tokyo-Narita)
- J-Air (Fukushima, Hanamaki, Sapporo-Chitose, Yamagata)
- JAL Express (Kumamoto, Matsuyama, Oita, Sendai)
- Japan Air Commuter (Izumo, Matsumoto, Matsuyama)
- Japan Airlines (Akita, Amami-Oshima, Aomori, Asahikawa, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Hakodate, Hanamaki, Kagoshima, Memanbetsu, Misawa, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Niigata, Okinawa, Sapporo-Chitose, Tokyo Haneda, Tokyo-Narita)
- * J-Air (Fukushima, Hanamaki, Sapporo-Chitose, Yamagata)
- * JAL Express (Kumamoto, Matsuyama, Oita, Sendai)
- * Japan Air Commuter (Izumo, Matsumoto, Matsuyama)
- * Japan Transocean Air (Ishigaki)
Ground transportation
Rail
The only direct rail connection to the airport is the Osaka Monorail, which stops in the northern suburbs of Osaka. Most travelers take the monorail to Hotarugaike Station (3 min., ¥200) and connect to the Hankyu Railway, or to Senri-Chuo Station (12 min., ¥320) and connect to the Midosuji Line. Hankyu runs rapid express trains from Hotarugaike to Umeda Station in central Osaka, a 16-minute trip.
There have been plans to connect the JR Takarazuka Line and Hankyu Takarazuka Line to Itami Airport, but these plans have never been realized.
Bus
A number of scheduled buses run to and from the airport. The following travel times are approximate and may be longer due to traffic jams.
- Shin-Osaka Station: 25 min., ¥490
- Osaka Station: 30 min., ¥620
- Namba Station: 30 min., ¥620
- Tennoji Station: 30 min., ¥620
- Sannomiya Station: 40 min., ¥1,020
- Kyoto Station: 55 min., ¥1,280
- Nara Station: 65 min., ¥1,440
- Kansai International Airport: 80 min., ¥1,700
External links
- http://www.osaka-airport.co.jp/ (in Japanese only)
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