Kitakyushu Airport
Kitakyushu Airport, sometimes called Kokuraminami Airport, is an airport in Kokuraminami-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is built on an artificial island in the western Seto Inland Sea, away from the city's downtown. It opened on 16 March 2006, as New Kitakyushu Airport but was renamed in 2008. It has some international charter flights.
It is one of the six airports in Japan to operate 24 hours a day, alongside Haneda Airport, Naha Airport, New Chitose Airport, Kansai International Airport, and Chubu Centrair International Airport.
History
The former airport also known as Kokura Airport 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, which cannot operate 24 hours 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 unlike these 2 airports. 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 Fukuoka as chairman. Construction began in October 1994.The new airport was anticipated by residents in and around the cities of Kitakyushu and Shimonoseki. 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
The first aircraft to land at the airport was a StarFlyer Airbus on March 16, 2006. The first international flight from Shanghai landed on March 30, 2006. A Korean low-cost carrier, Jeju Air, flew eight charter flights from Kitakyushu to Incheon International Airport in summer 2008. Scheduled service on the route started in March 2009.Dimensions
The runway is, enough to accommodate Boeing 747s 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, the expansion is being conducted, starting with a runway extension to ).Construction to extend the runway to began in December 2023. Completion is scheduled for August 2027.