Kansai International Airport ( ?????? Kansai Kokusai Kuko? ) ( IATA: KIX, ICAO: RJBB) is an international airport located on an artificial island in the middle of Osaka Bay, 38 km ( 24 mi) southwest of Osaka Station, located within three municipalities, including Izumisano ( north) , Sennan ( south) , and Tajiri ( central) , in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The airport is off the Honshu shore and was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. 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 Kanku ( ??? ) 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.[8] 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 June 2014, Kansai Airport has become an Asian hub, with 780 weekly flights to Asia and Australasia ( including freight 119) , 59 weekly flights to Europe and the Middle East ( freight 5) , and 80 weekly flights to North America ( freight 42) .