, sometimes called Kokuraminami Airport, is an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

in Kokuraminami-ku,

Kitakyushu is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuku ...

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It is built on an

artificial island An artificial island is an island that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means. Artificial islands may vary in size from small islets reclaimed solely to support a single pillar of a building or structure to those tha ...

in the western

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...

, away from the main body of the city. It opened on 16 March 2006, as but was renamed in 2008. It is designated a

second class airport This is a list of airports in Japan, grouped by classification and sorted by location. As of February 2012, the country has a total of 98 airports, of which 28 are operated by the central government and 67 by local governments.Aoki, Mizuho,Bubble ...

, and it has some international charter flights. It is the fourth airport in Japan to begin operating 24 hours a day, after

New Chitose Airport is an international airport located south-southeast of Chitose and Tomakomai, Hokkaidō, Japan, serving the Sapporo metropolitan area. By both traffic and land area, it is the largest airport in Hokkaidō. It is adjacent to Chitose Air Base ...

(

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

Kansai International Airport Kansai International Airport ( ja, 関西国際空港, Kansai Kokusai Kūkō) commonly known as is the primary international airport in the Greater Osaka Area of Japan and the closest international airport to the cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and K ...

(

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

), and

Chūbu Centrair International Airport is an international airport on an artificial island in Ise Bay, Tokoname City in Aichi Prefecture, south of Nagoya in central Japan. Centrair is classified as a first class airport and is the main international gateway for the Chubu ("ce ...

(

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

History

The former

Kitakyushu Airport , sometimes called Kokuraminami Airport, is an airport in Kokuraminami-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan. It is built on an artificial island in the western Seto Inland Sea, away from the main body of the city. It opened on 16 March 2006, as but ...

had restrictions on aircraft operation due to its small size and location, close to mountains and residential areas. Heavy fog often resulted in flight cancellations. There were similar problems at the nearby

Fukuoka Airport , formerly known as Itazuke Air Base, is an international and domestic airport located east of Hakata Station in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Fukuoka Airport is the principal airport on the island of Kyushu and is the fourth busiest passenger ...

, which cannot engage in nighttime operations due to proximity to residential areas. A new airport was intended to be free from such problems due to its offshore location, making possible 24-hour operation. Large cargo planes can use the airport, making possible convenient freight movement to and from nearby industrial zones. Toyota has a factory just across the bay from the airport.

Construction

A committee to promote the construction of the new airport was founded in 1978, with the governor of

as chairman. Construction began in October 1994. The new airport was anticipated by residents in and around the cities of

and

Shimonoseki is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. With a population of 265,684, it is the largest city in Yamaguchi Prefecture and the fifth-largest city in the Chūgoku region. It is located at the southwestern tip of Honshu facing the Tsushim ...

. The Kitakyushu municipal government organized bus tours to the construction site for interested citizens in an attempt to defuse controversy over the construction. The airport officially opened on March 16, 2006.

Flights

StarFlyer Airbus A320-200 at New Kitakyushu airport

The first aircraft to land at the airport was a

StarFlyer (), styled as StarFlyer, is a Japanese airline headquartered on the grounds of Kitakyushu Airport in Kokuraminami-ku, Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture. It describes itself as a "hybrid airline" providing a higher level of service than low-cos ...

Airbus on March 26, 2006. The first international flight from

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

landed on March 30, 2006. A Korean

low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

Jeju Air Jeju Air Co., Ltd. (), is the first and largest South Korean low-cost airline. It offers scheduled domestic services, as well as international destinations including China, Japan, Russia, the Mariana Islands, and various Southeast Asian countries ...

, flew eight charter flights from Kitakyushu to

Incheon International Airport Incheon International Airport (IIA; ) (sometimes referred to as Seoul–Incheon International Airport) is the largest airport in South Korea. It is the primary airport serving the Seoul Capital Area and one of the largest and busiest airports ...

in summer 2008. Scheduled service on the route started in March 2009.

Events

Several events were held to commemorate the opening of the airport. A marathon was held on February 5, 2006 with half-marathon, 10 kilometre and five kilometre courses to celebrate the opening of the new airport. On June 4, 2006, a rugby game was played at

Honjo Stadium is a small athletic and multi-purpose stadium (capacity 10,202), opened in 1990 at Honjō Park in Ohiraki, Yahata Nishi-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka prefecture, Japan. Association football It was the designated home stadium for Giravanz Kitakyushu ...

between

and

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

as part of the inaugural

IRB Pacific 5 Nations The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific states: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The 2019 edition of the tournament will also include the national teams of Canada, Japan and United States. First held ...

series. On August 2, 2006, the one-millionth user of the airport was presented with souvenirs. By July 11, 2007, 3 million passengers had used the airport.

Dimensions

The runway is (with a separate taxiway of ), enough to accommodate

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, to ...

s and other large jet aircraft. The manmade island on which the airport is built is long and wide (). Due to the island's size and the relative shallowness of the surrounding water, which is about in depth, future expansion will be conducted, starting with a 500m runway extension to ).

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

New Kitakyushu Airport terminal interior

Cargo

Other facilities

The airline

has its head office on the airport property.会社概要
"

. Retrieved on December 20, 2010. "本社〒800-0306 福岡県北九州市小倉南区空港北町6番北九州空港スターフライヤー本社ビル"

Statistics

Access

Road

A 2.1 km toll-free bridge connects the island to the Higashikyūshū Expressway via the Kanda-Kitakyushukūkō interchange.

Bus

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitakyushu Airport Airports in Kyushu Buildings and structures in Kitakyushu Artificial islands of Japan Transport in Fukuoka Prefecture Artificial island airports Airports established in 2006 2006 establishments in Japan