Thursday 16 May 2013

Kansai International Airport (KIX), (関西国際空港, Kansai Kokusai Kūkō

Kansai International Airport (関西国際空港 Kansai Kokusai Kūkō?) (IATA: KIXICAO: RJBB) is an international airport located on an artificial island in the middle of Osaka Bay, 38 km (24 mi) southwest of Ōsaka Station, located within three municipalities, including Izumisano (north), Sennan (south), and Tajiri (central), in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The airport is off the Honshu shore. The airport serves as an international hub for All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, and Nippon Cargo Airlines, and also serves as a hub for Peach, the first international low-cost carrier in Japan.
It is colloquially known as Kankū (関空?) in Japanese.



  Kansai opened 4 September 1994 to relieve overcrowding at Osaka International Airport, which is closer to the city of Osaka and now handles only domestic flights. During the 2006 fiscal year, KIX had 116,475 aircraft movements, of which 73,860 were international (31 countries, 71 cities), and 42,615 were domestic (19 cities). The total number of passengers was 16,689,658 of which 11,229,444 were international, and 5,460,214 were domestic, sixth in Japan and second in Osaka area. However, in 2009, airport traffic has fallen by almost 20% in just two years to 13.4 million. In 2010 airport traffic had risen to over 14 million, with international passengers accounting for approximately 10.4 million and domestic passengers accounting for approximately 3.7 million. Freight volume was at 802,162 tonnes total, of which 757,414 t were international (18th in the world), and 44,748 t were domestic. The 4,000 m × 60 m (13,123 ft × 197 ft) second runway was opened on 2 August 2007. As of May 2012, Kansai Airport has become an Asian hub, with 499 weekly flights to Asia, 66 weekly flights to Europe and the Middle East, and 35 weekly flights to North America.

History

3rd floor boarding lobby, part of the longest airport concourse in the world.
  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. The new airport was part of a number of new developments to revitalize Osaka, which had lost economic and cultural ground to Tokyo for most of the century.
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.

Construction


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, along with Osaka International.

Closeup of the artificial island

  A man-made island, 4 km (2.5 mi) long and 2.5 km (1.6 mi) wide, was proposed. Engineers needed to overcome the extremely high risks of earthquakes and typhoons (with storm surges of up to 3 m (10 ft)).
Construction started in 1987. The sea wall was finished in 1989 (made of rock and 48,000 tetrahedral concrete blocks). Three mountains were excavated for 21,000,000 m3 (27,000,000 cu yd) of landfill. 10,000 workers and 10 million work hours over three years, using eighty ships, were needed to complete the 30-metre (98 ft) 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. Completion of the artificial island increased the area of Osaka Prefecture just enough to move it past Kagawa Prefecture in size (leaving Kagawa as the smallest by area in Japan).

   The bidding and construction of the airport was a source of international trade friction during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone responded to American concerns, particularly from Senator Frank Murkowski, that bids would be rigged in Japanese companies' favor by providing special offices for prospective international contractors, which ultimately did little to ease the participation of foreign contractors in the bidding process. Later, foreign airlines complained that two-thirds of the departure hall counter space had been allocated to Japanese carriers, disproportionately to the actual carriage of passengers through the airport.
The island had been predicted to sink 5.7 m (19 ft) by the most optimistic estimate as the weight of the material used for construction compressed the seabed silts. However, by this time, the island had sunk 8.2 m (27 ft) - much more than predicted. The project became the most expensive civil works project in modern history after twenty years of planning, three years of construction and several billion dollars of investment. Much of what was learned went into the successful artificial islands in silt deposits for New Kitakyushu Airport, Kobe Airport, and Chūbu Centrair International Airport. The lessons of Kansai Airport were also applied in the construction of Hong Kong International Airport.

  In 1991, the terminal construction commenced. To compensate for the sinking of the island, adjustable columns were designed to support the terminal building. These are extended by inserting thick metal plates at their bases. Government officials proposed reducing the length of the terminal to cut costs, but architect Renzo Piano insisted on keeping the terminal at its full planned length. The airport opened in 1994.
On 17 January 1995, Japan was struck by the Kobe earthquake, whose epicenter was about 20 km (12 mi) away from KIX and killed 6,434 people on Japan's main island of Honshū. Due to its earthquake engineering, the airport emerged unscathed, mostly due to the use of sliding joints. Even the glass in the windows remained intact. In 1998, the airport survived a typhoon with wind speeds of up to 200 km/h (120 mph).
   On 19 April 2001, the airport was one of ten structures given the "Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium" award by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

  As of 2008, the total cost of Kansai Airport is $20 billion. This includes land reclamation, two runways, terminal and facilities. Most additional costs were initially due to the island sinking, expected due to the soft soils of Osaka Bay. After construction the rate of sinking was considered so severe that the airport was widely criticized as a geotechnical engineering disaster. The sink rate has since fallen from 50 cm (20 in) during 1994 to 7 cm (2.8 in) in 2008.

Operation


A Finnair MD-11 and the terminal building on the background.

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

  Opened on 4 September 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's Kansai region, which contains the major cities of Kyoto, Kobe, and Osaka. Other Kansai domestic flights fly from the older but more conveniently located Osaka International Airport in Itami, or from the newer Kobe Airport.
The airport had been deeply in debt, losing $560 million in interest every year. Airlines had been kept away by high landing fees (about $7,500 for a Boeing 747), the second most expensive in the world after Narita's. In the early years of the airport's operation, excessive terminal rent and utility bills for on-site concessions also drove up operating costs: some estimates before opening held that a cup of coffee would have to cost US$10. Osaka business owners pressed the government to take a greater burden of the construction cost to keep the airport attractive to passengers and airlines. Nowadays, after deep discounts, the number of flights are increasing.

  On 17 February 2005, Chubu Centrair International Airport opened in Nagoya, just east of Osaka. The opening of the airport was expected to increase competition between Japan's international airports. Despite this, passenger totals were up 11% in 2005 over 2004, and international passengers increased to 3.06 million in 2006, up 10% over 2005. Adding to the competition was the opening of Kobe Airport, less than 25 km (16 mi) away, in 2006 and the lengthening of the runway at Tokushima Airport in Shikoku in 2007.
The main rationale behind the expansions is to compete with Incheon International Airport and Hong Kong International Airport as a gateway to Asia, as Tokyo area airports are severely congested. As of 2008, with the regional trend in open skies agreements being signed, it is possible that all airports will see increases in traffic.

  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. As of 2008, because of the time-limited nature of Haneda's new long-haul international slots, this will remain a viable option for daytime travelers.

Expansion


Second phase of Kansai International Airport under construction

    The airport was at its limit during peak times, owing especially to freight flights, so a portion of Phase II expansion—the second runway—was made a priority. Thus, in 2003, believing that the sinking problem was almost over, the airport operators started to construct a 4,000 m (13,000 ft) second runway and terminal.
The second runway opened on 2 August 2007, but without the originally planned terminal portion postponed. This lowered the project cost to JPY¥910 billion (approx. US$8 billion), saving ¥650 billion from the first estimate. The additional runway development, which was opened in time for the IAAF world athletics championships in Osaka, has expanded the airport size to 10.5 km2 (4.1 sq mi). The second runway is used for landings and when there are incidents prohibiting take off use of runway A.
A new terminal building opened in late 2012. There are additional plans for several new aprons, a third runway (06C/24C) with a length of 3,500 m (11,483 ft), a new cargo terminal and expanding the airport size to 13 km2 (5.0 sq mi). As of 2012, the Japanese government is postponing these plans for economic reasons.
    As of August 2007, the airport expected to handle 129,000 flights during the year 2007, an increase of 11% compared to 2006 figures of 116,475 flights. The new runway allowed the airport to start 24 hour operations in September 2007.

Relationship with Itami Airport

Since July 2008, Osaka Prefecture governor Toru Hashimoto has been a vocal critic of Itami Airport, arguing that the Chuo Shinkansen maglev line will make much of its domestic role irrelevant, and that its domestic functions should be transferred to Kansai Airport in conjunction with upgraded high-speed access to Kansai from central Osaka. In 2009, Hashimoto also publicly proposed moving the functions of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Kansai Airport as a possible solution for the political crisis surrounding the base.

  In May 2011, the Diet of Japan passed legislation to form a new Kansai International Airport Corporation using the state's existing equity stake in Kansai Airport and its property holdings at Itami Airport. The move was aimed at offsetting Kansai Airport's debt burden.
The merger of the Itami and Kansai airport authorities was completed in July 2012. Shortly following the merger, Kansai Airport announced a 5% reduction in landing fees effective October 2012, with additional reductions during overnight hours when the airport is underutilized, and further discounts planned for the future, including subsidies for new airlines and routes. As of October 2012 these moves were intended to bring Kansai's fees closer to the level of Narita International Airport, where landing fees were around 20% lower than Kansai's, and to improve competitiveness with other Asian hubs such as Incheon International Airport in Korea.

Terminals

Terminal 1

   The main KIX passenger Terminal l is a single four-story building designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop (Renzo Piano and Noriaki Okabe) and has a gross floor space of 296,043 square metres (3,186,580 sq ft). As of 2008, it is the longest airport terminal in the world, at a total length of 1.7 km (1.1 mi) from end to end. It has a sophisticated people mover system called the Wing Shuttle, which 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.

Terminal 2

  Terminal 2 is a low-cost carrier (LCC) terminal designed to attract more LCCs by providing lower landing fees than terminal 1. Similar to Singapore's Changi International Airport's low cost terminal, the terminal is basic and currently serves only Japan's Peach Air. As of 2010, this terminal is not directly accessible by train. A free shuttle bus transports passengers from Kansai International Airport's train station to Terminal 2.

Airlines and destinations

  The second floor of the Passenger Terminal Building is used for domestic departures and arrivals. All ticketing, boarding, and baggage claim are handled on the second floor. 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.
AirlinesDestinationsTerminal
Air BusanBusanT1(North)
Air ChinaBeijing-Capital, Chengdu, Dalian, Hangzhou, Shanghai-PudongT1(South)
Air FranceParis-Charles de GaulleT1(South)
Air IndiaDelhi, Hong KongT1(South)
Air MacauMacauT1(North)
Air New ZealandAuckland (ends 30 September 2013)T1(South)
AirAsia XKuala LumpurT1(North)
AircalinNouméaT1(South)
AlitaliaRome-FiumicinoT1(North)
All Nippon AirwaysBeijing-Capital, Dalian, Fukuoka, Hakodate, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, New Ishigaki, Okinawa, Qingdao, Sapporo-Chitose, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Tokyo-Haneda
Seasonal: Asahikawa, Memanbetsu, Wakkanai
T1(North)
Asiana AirlinesBusan, Seoul-Gimpo, Seoul-Incheon
Seasonal: Saipan
T1(North)
Cathay PacificHong Kong, Taipei-TaoyuanT1(North)
Cebu PacificManilaT1(North)
China AirlinesKaohsiung, New York-JFK, Taipei-TaoyuanT1(South)
China Eastern AirlinesBeijing-Capital, Kunming, Nanjing, Qingdao, Shanghai-Pudong, Wuhan, YantaiT1(South)
China Southern AirlinesChangchun, Dalian, Guangzhou, Harbin, ShenyangT1(South)
Delta Air LinesGuam, Honolulu, Seattle/TacomaT1(North)
Eastar JetSeoul-IncheonT1(South)
EgyptAirCairoT1(South)
EmiratesDubaiT1(South)
EVA AirTaipei-TaoyuanT1(North)
FinnairHelsinkiT1(North)
Garuda IndonesiaDenpasar/Bali, Jakarta-Soekarno Hatta (begins 28 October 2013)[29]T1(North)
Hawaiian AirlinesHonoluluT1(North)
Japan AirlinesBangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Fukuoka, Honolulu, Okinawa, Sapporo-Chitose, Seoul-Gimpo, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Taipei-Taoyuan, Tokyo-HanedaT1(South)
Japan Airlines
operated by J-Air
FukuokaT1(South)
Japan Airlines
operated by JAL Express
Seoul-Gimpo, Shanghai-Pudong, Tokyo-HanedaT1(South)
Japan Airlines
operated by Japan Transocean Air
New Ishigaki, Okinawa, Tokyo-HanedaT1(South)
Jeju AirJeju, Seoul-Gimpo, Seoul-IncheonT1(North)
Jetstar AirwaysCairns, Gold Coast, Singapore, SydneyT1(North)
Jetstar Asia AirwaysManila, Singapore, Taipei-TaoyuanT1(North)
Jetstar JapanFukuoka, Okinawa, Sapporo-Chitose, Tokyo-NaritaT1(North)
KLMAmsterdamT1(North)
Korean AirBusan, Cheongju, Guam, Jeju, Seoul-Gimpo, Seoul-IncheonT1(North)
LufthansaFrankfurtT1(North)
Malaysia AirlinesKota Kinabalu, Kuala LumpurT1(North)
Mandarin AirlinesScheduled Charter: KaohsiungT1(South)
MIAT Mongolian AirlinesSeasonal: Ulan BatorT1(North)
PeachBusan [begins 13 September 2013], Fukuoka, Hong Kong, New Ishigaki [begins 14 June 2013], Nagasaki, Okinawa, Sapporo-Chitose, Sendai, Seoul-Incheon, Taipei-TaoyuanT2
Philippine AirlinesManilaT1(South)
Qatar AirwaysDohaT1(North)
Shanghai AirlinesShanghai-PudongT1(North)
Shenzhen AirlinesFuzhou, Shenzhen, WuxiT1(South)
Singapore AirlinesSingaporeT1(South)
Skymark AirlinesSeasonal: AsahikawaT1(South)
StarFlyerTokyo-HanedaT1(South)
Thai Airways InternationalBangkok-SuvarnabhumiT1(North)
TransAsia AirwaysTaipei-TaoyuanT1(South)
Turkish AirlinesIstanbul-AtatürkT1(North)
United AirlinesGuam, San FranciscoT1(North)
Uzbekistan AirwaysTashkentT1(North)
Vietnam AirlinesHanoi, Ho Chi Minh CityT1(South)

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
Air China CargoBeijing-Capital, Shanghai-Pudong
Air Hong KongHong Kong
Aircompany YakutiaShanghai-Pudong
ANA & JP ExpressSeoul-Incheon
ANA CargoBangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Dalian, Okinawa, Qingdao, Saga, Shanghai-Pudong, Tokyo-Haneda, Tokyo-Narita, Xiamen
Asiana CargoSeoul-Incheon
Cathay Pacific CargoHong Kong, Seoul-Incheon
China Airlines CargoTaipei-Taoyuan, Anchorage, Los Angeles
China Cargo AirlinesShanghai-Pudong, Xiamen
China Postal AirlinesShanghai-Pudong
China Southern CargoShanghai-Pudong
Cathay Pacific CargoHong Kong
Emirates SkyCargoDubai, Seoul-Incheon
EVA Air CargoTaipei-Taoyuan
FedEx ExpressAnchorage, Beijing-Capital, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Memphis, Oakland, Singapore, Shanghai-Pudong, Taipei-Taoyuan, Tokyo-Narita
Hong Kong Airlines CargoHong Kong
Korean Air CargoSeoul-Incheon
Lufthansa CargoFrankfurt, Krasnoyarsk
Nippon Cargo AirlinesBangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Beijing-Capital, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Singapore, Tokyo-Narita
Polar Air CargoChicago-O'Hare, Shanghai-Pudong
Singapore Airlines CargoHong Kong, Los Angeles, Singapore
UPS AirlinesAnchorage, Shanghai-Pudong, Shenzhen

Ground transportation

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 Tennōji, Shin-Ōsaka, and Kyoto Station. JR West also offers "Kansai Airport Rapid" services for Kansai Airport Station from Ōsaka, Kyōbashi Station, and 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.
Plans were drawn 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 bus operators offer scheduled express bus services, called "Airport Limousines", for Kansai International Airport.

Parking

Two six story parking structures, called P1 and P2, are located above a railroad terminal station, while the other two level parking facilities, called P3 and P4, are situated next to "Aeroplaza", a hotel complex.
The airport is only accessible from the Sky Gate Bridge R, a part of Kansai Airport Expressway. The expressway immediately connects to Hanshin Expressways Route 5, "Wangan Route", and Hanwa Expressway.

Ferry service

In July 2007, high-speed ferry service (run by Kaijo Access Co.) began operating between Kobe Airport and KIX. The journey takes about thirty minutes.

Other facilities


Kensetsu-to, the headquarters of Peach Aviation and the Kansai International Airport Land Development Co.,Ltd.
  • Kansai Airport Agency Company Building (航空会社北ビル Kūkō Kaisha Kita Biru?) - Houses the Kansai Airport Agency Co., Ltd. (株式会社 関西エアポートエージェンシー Kabushiki Kaisha Kansai Eapōto Ējenshī?)
  • Kensetsu-to (建設棟 Kensetsu-tō?)
    • The head office of the Kansai International Airport Land Development Co.,Ltd. (KALD, 関西国際空港用地造成株式会社 Kansai Kokusai Kūkō Yōchi Zōsei Kabushiki Kaisha) is on the fourth floor.
    • The Peach Aviation head office is on the fifth floor.
  • Aeroplaza (エアロプラザ Earopuraza?) is located on the west side of Kansai Airport Station. It includes a hotel, restaurants, rental car counters, and other businesses
    • Hotel Nikko Kansai Airport (north portion of Kansai Airport)
    • Head office of Peach Aviation was previously located on the third floor (central portion of Kansai Airport)
  • Central power station (KEPCO energy center, 40 MW
  • Central heating and cooling plant
  • Sewage disposal plant (disposing 20,000 m3 (5,300,000 US gal) per day)
  • Incineration plant
  • JAL Cargo import and export facilities (in southern portion)
  • Japan Coast Guard Kansai airport Coast Guard air base
  • Japan Coast Guard Special Security Team Base
  • Osaka international post office (As of 2010 carrying about 19,000 tonnes per year of international postal matter)
  • Oil tanker berths (three berths) and Fuel Supply center
  • Airport access bridge ("The Sky Gate Bridge R")
  • As of 2011, the longest truss bridge in the world at 3,750 m (12,303 ft). The double-decker bridge consists of a lower deck devoted to rail, with the upper for road.

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