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Kansai International Airport ( Jp. 関西国際空港 Kansai Kokusai Kuko) is an international airport located on an artificial island in Osaka Bay, south of Osaka, Japan. It opened on September 4, 1994.
The airport is the primary international gateway for the Kansai region, which contains the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. However, domestic airlines have maintained the majority of their operations at the older but more conveniently located Osaka International Airport in Itami.
In the Kansai dialect, Kansai Airport is often called Kanku (関空). It has the IATA airport codeThe IATA airport code is a three-letter alphabetic code designating many airports around the world. These codes are defined by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The IATA airport codes are published tri-annually in the IATA Airline Coding KIX and the ICAO airport codeThe ICAO airport code is a four-letter alphanumeric code designating each airport around the world. These codes are defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization. The ICAO codes are used by air traffic control and airline operations such as fli RJBB.
In the 1960s, when the Kansai region was rapidly losing trade to Tokyo, planners proposed a new airport near Osaka and Kobe. Osaka International Airport, located in the densely-populated suburbs of Itami and Toyonaka, was surrounded by buildings: it could not be expanded, and many of its neighbors had filed complaints because of noise pollutionAny man-made sound that penetrates the environment is noise pollution . Noise pollution can be caused by many sources including highways, vehicles, factories, concerts, air-conditioners, engines, machine, planes, helicopters, alarms, public address system problems.
After the protests surrounding New Tokyo International Airport (now Narita International AirportNarita International Airport ( Japanese: Narita Kokusai Kuko ( IATA airport code: NRT, ICAO Airport Code: RJAA) is an international airport in the eastern portion of Narita, Chiba, Japan. It handles most international traffic into Tokyo and the Greater To), which was built with confiscated land in a rural part of Chiba prefecture, planners decided to build the airport offshore. Initially, the airport was planned to be built near Kobe, but the city of Kobe refused the plan, so the airport was moved to a more southerly location on Osaka Bay. There, it could be open 24 hours per day, unlike its predecessor in the city. Local fishermen were the only group to protest, but they were silenced by hefty compensation packages.
A man-made islandAdriatic sea An island is any piece of land smaller than a continent and larger than a rock, that is completely surrounded by water. Very small islands are called islets . Although seldom adhered to, it is also proper to call an emergent land feature on a, 4 km long and 1 km wide, was proposed. Engineers faced the risk of earthquakes (very high) and typhoons (with storm surges of up to 3 meters).
Construction started in 1987. The sea wall was finished in 1989 (made of rocks and 48,000 tetrahedral concrete blocks). Three mountains were excavated for 21 million cubic meters of landfill. 10,000 workers and 10 million work hours over 3 years, using 80 ships, were needed to complete the thirty-meter layer of earth over the sea floor and inside the sea wall. In 1990, a three-kilometer bridge was completed to connect the island to the mainland at Rinku-Town, at a cost of $1 billion.
By then, the island had sunk 8 meters (far more than predicted) and the project became the most expensive civil works project in modern history after 20 years of planning, 3 years of construction and several billion dollars of investment.
In 1991, the terminal construction commenced. To compensate for the sinking of the island, adjustable columns were designed to support the terminal building. These could be extended by inserting thick metal plates at their base.
The airport opened in 1994.
In 1995, Kansai Airport was struck by the Kobe earthquake, which was centered just 20 km away and killed 5,000 people on the mainland. The airport, however, emerged unscathed, mostly due to the use of sliding joint s in its construction. Even the glass in the windows stayed intact. Later, in 1998, the airport survived a typhoon with wind speeds of up to 200 km/h.
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