Kansai international airport (KIX)

Background information:

Kansai international airport is located on a man-made island in the intermediary of Osaka Bay-Japan, serving the cities of Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Kobe , It is the hub for all Nippon airways, Japan Airways, and Nippon freight Airlines.

Top view of the airport 

Photo from a plane

IATA Airport code : KIX

Built to decrease noise pollution

 from current Osaka Airport

First airport built on man-made island

The island measures 4km long and 2.5km wide

Construction Timeline:


January-1987:          Start of the airport island seawall construction
December-1991:      Completion of reclamation work on the airport island
June-1994:              Completion of the Passenger Terminal Building
4 September 1994:   Inauguration of the airport

Working:

The airport works as a center for different airlines like: Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways, and Nippon Cargo Airlines.The airport had been badly 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 costly in the world after Narita's.

Expansion:

In 2003, the airport operators started to build a 4,000 meter  another runway and terminal, The new runway is used for landings and when there are conditions preventing takeoff use of runway A,the new runway allowed the airport to start 24 hour operations in September 2007.A new terminal (terminal2) building opened in 2012.

Terminal 1:

The prime KIX passenger Terminal 1 is a four-story building and has a total floor space of 296,043 square meters, As of 2008, it is the longest airport terminal in the world, at a total length of 1.7 km from end to end.

1F for International Arrivals

2F for Domestic Arrivals and Departures

3F icludes Restaurants/Shops Area

4F for International Departures

To go from one side to the other of that 1.7-km contact pier, one can use the KIX Wing Shuttle, a driverless people mover system that takes travellers from the pier to the terminal building.

Terminal 2 :

A low-cost carrier (LCC) terminal costructed to engage more LCCs by providing lower landing fees than terminal 1, It is exclusively operated by Peach.

Peach requested that Terminal 2 have a simple design in order to decrease operating costs, the terminal is a single-story building, thus eliminating the cost of elevators, passageways to airplane have no air conditioning, the terminal also has no jet bridges, having one boarding gateway for domestic departures and one boarding gateway for international departures. In case of rain, passengers are lent umbrellas to use as they go to the plane.

Ground transportation:

Rail:

Kansai International Airport is linked only by the Sky Gate Bridge, a road / railroad bridge to Rinku Metropolis and the mainland. The lower railroad level of the bridge is used by two railroad operators: Nankai Electric Railway and West Japan Railway.

Bus:

Kansai Airport Transportation Enterprise and other bus operators offer scheduled express bus services, called "Airport Limousines", for Kansai International Airport.

Nankai "Rapit“

There are two different types of trains:

the rapit alfa : takes 29 minutes to the central of Osaka

the rapit beta : takes 34 minutes to the central of Osaka

Both run every 30 min, and 

cost ¥1390 (=9.4 JD)

Taxi:

Takes 50 minutes to central Osaka, because Kansai Airport is located about 50 km outside of Osaka, a taxi ride into the city center of Osaka is very costly and not recommended to public travelers.

Ferry service:

This is a high-velocity ferry service that links Kansai International airport with Kobe Airport. It started works in 2007, enabling passengers to commute between the 2 airports across Osaka Bay in 30 minutes.

parking:

Two 6 story parking buildings , named  P1 and P2, are located above a railroad terminal station, while the other two level parking facilities, named  P3 and P4, are situated near the "Aeroplaza", a hotel complex.

Aeroplaza:

This is a hotel group with restaurants and shopping mall.It is located beyond the Kansai Airport train Station, operated by Nikko Kansai Airport.

Air traffic control (ATC):

The main objective of ATC worldwide is to prevent collisions, organize and hasten the flow of traffic, and provide information and other support for planes.