Kansai International Airport

About

Kansai International Airport (Kansai Kokusai Kūkō, IATA: KIX, ICAO: RJBB), commonly known as Kankū is the primary international airport in the Greater Osaka Area of Japan and the closest international airport to the cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. It is located on the artificial island of Kankūjima, in the middle of Osaka Bay off the Honshu shore, 38 km (24 mi) southwest of Ōsaka Station, located within three municipalities, including Izumisano (north), Sennan (south), and Tajiri (central), in Osaka Prefecture. The airport's first airport island covers approximately 510 hectares (1, 260 acres) and the second covers approximately 545 hectares (1, 347 acres), for a total of 1,055 hectares (2, 607 acres). Kansai opened on 4 September 1994 to relieve overcrowding at Osaka International Airport, also called Itami Airport, which is closer to Osaka. It consists of two terminals: Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Terminal 1, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, is the longest airport terminal in the world with a length of 1.7 km (1+1⁄16 mi). The airport serves as an international hub for All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, and Nippon Cargo Airlines and as a hub for Peach, the first international low-cost carrier in Japan. It is also the north Pacific hub for FedEx Express, which obtained fifth freedom rights under the 1998 U.S. and Japan air agreement

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.