| Kitakyushu Airport | |
| Nativename: | |
| Iata: | KKJ |
| Icao: | RJFR |
| Type: | Public |
| Operator: | Ministry of Transport (airfield) Kitakyushu Air Terminal Co. (terminal) |
| City-Served: | Kitakyushu |
| Location: | Kokuraminami-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan |
| Operating Base: | StarFlyer |
| Coordinates: | 33.8456°N 131.035°W |
| Pushpin Map: | Japan Fukuoka Prefecture#Japan |
| Pushpin Label: | KKJ/RJFR |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Fukuoka Prefecture##Location in Japan |
| Elevation-F: | 21 |
| Metric-Rwy: | y |
| R1-Number: | 18/36 |
| R1-Length-M: | 2,500 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt/Concrete |
| Stat-Year: | 2015 |
| Stat1-Header: | Passengers |
| Stat1-Data: | 1,317,504 |
| Stat2-Header: | Cargo (metric tonnes) |
| Stat2-Data: | 7,922 |
| Stat3-Header: | Aircraft movement |
| Stat3-Data: | 17,461 |
| Footnotes: | Source: Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism[1] |
, 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, 3km (02miles) away from the city's downtown. It opened on 16 March 2006, as but was renamed in 2008. It has some international charter flights.
It is the fourth airport in Japan to begin operating 24 hours a day, after New Chitose Airport (Sapporo), Kansai International Airport (Osaka), and Chubu Centrair International Airport (Nagoya).
The former Kitakyushu 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 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.
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.
The first aircraft to land at the airport was a StarFlyer Airbus on March 26, 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.
The runway is 2500by (with a separate taxiway of 2500by), enough to accommodate Boeing 747s and other large jet aircraft. The manmade island on which the airport is built is 4125m (13,533feet) long and 900m (3,000feet) wide (3.73km2). Due to the island's size and the relative shallowness of the surrounding water, which is about 7m (23feet) in depth, the expansion is being conducted, starting with a 500m (1,600feet) runway extension to 3000by).Construction to extend the runway to 3000m (10,000feet) began in December 2023. Completion is scheduled for August 2027.
The airline StarFlyer has its head office on the airport property.[5]
A 2.1 km toll-free bridge connects the island to the Higashikyūshū Expressway via the Kanda-Kitakyushukūkō interchange.
| Terminal | Via | Note | Operator | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunatsu | Kokura Station Bus Center | |||
| Kitakyushu Science and Research Park | Orio, Kurosaki | |||
| Kusami Station | Runs on automated driving[6] | |||
| Hakata Station | only at midnight and early morning | |||
| ends 31 July 2019 | Oita Kotsu, Kamenoi Bus |