The Kansai International Airport was built on a man-made 4 km by 2.5 km island in the Osaka Bay.
Almost thirty airlines fly to Kansai International Airport from cities throughout Asia as well as to Europe and the US.
Construction began in 1987 to ease congestion on the Osaka International Airport. It took almost ten years and $15 billion dollars to construct the island, the terminals and runway, making Kansai International airport the most expensive construction project ever. This huge expense was caused by excessive sinking of the artificial island and for protective measure against earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons. It seems to have been worth it because when the major Kobe earthquake struck just 20 km away the airport came through without any major damage: even the glass in the windows remained intact.
Most flights from Kansai International Airport are to Tokyo and to Shanghai but there are many more flights to other destinations as well, most of them by Japan Airlines. Every day there are flights to 20 destinations from Kansai International Airport. Here are the most popular destinations:
At the opening in 1994 all internationals traffic was moved from Osaka International airport, which is now a domestic only airport. Kansai also offers domestic flights though. Since 1994 Kansai was upgraded and expanded with another runway and new terminal. Kansai Airport has one main terminal building and an LCC terminal only used by Peach Airlines. Other low-cost airlines like Jetstar still operate from the main terminal.
The Kansai International Airport is located almost 50 km southwest of the main Osaka train station.
The airport has a rail connection which is used by two companies offering express trains to various destinations in the region. The Kansai Airport Rapid will be the most convenient as it terminates at the Kyobashi station in Osaka (65 minutes for about JPY 600).
There are several companies offering shuttle bus service (called confusingly Airport Limousines) to Osaka.
There is a ferry service between Kansai and Kobe airport with a journey time of just a half hour and a direct shuttle between Kansai and Osaka Airport (up to 70 min journey time).
All prices quoted here were found in August 2017
