Kitakyushu Airport

Kitakyushu Airport 北九州空港 Kitakyūshū-kūkō
IATA: KKJ ICAO: RJFR
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Ministry of Transport (airfield) Kitakyushu Air Terminal Co. (terminal)
Serves	Kitakyushu
Location	Kokuraminami-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
Opened	March 16, 2006 (2006-03-16)
Operating base for	StarFlyer
Elevation AMSL	21 ft / 6 m
Coordinates	33°50′44″N 131°02′06″E
Map
KKJ/RJFR Location in Fukuoka Prefecture KKJ/RJFR Location in Japan
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 18/36 2,500 8,202 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 1,317,504 Cargo (metric tonnes) 7,922 Aircraft movement 17,461
Source: Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

Kitakyushu Airport (北九州空港, Kitakyūshū-kūkō) (IATA: KKJ, ICAO: RJFR), 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, 3 km (1.9 mi) away from the city's downtown. It opened on 16 March 2006, as New Kitakyushu Airport (新北九州空港, Shin-kitakyūshū-kūkō) 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).

History

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.

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

StarFlyer Airbus A320-200 at the airport

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.

Dimensions

The runway is 2,500 by 60 m (8,202 by 197 ft) (with a separate taxiway of 2,500 by 30 m (8,202 by 98 ft)), enough to accommodate Boeing 747s and other large jet aircraft. The manmade island on which the airport is built is 4,125 m (13,533 ft) long and 900 m (2,953 ft) wide (3.73 km² (1.44 sq mi)). Due to the island's size and the relative shallowness of the surrounding water, which is about 7 m (23 ft) in depth, the expansion is being conducted, starting with a 500 m (1,600 ft) runway extension to 3,000 by 30 m (9,843 by 98 ft)). Construction to extend the runway to 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) began in December 2023. Completion is scheduled for August 2027.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations
Japan Airlines	Tokyo–Haneda
Jin Air	Seoul–Incheon
StarFlyer	Tokyo–Haneda Charter: Muan

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
Korean Air Cargo	Los Angeles, Seoul–Incheon
Yamato Transport Operated by Spring Airlines Japan	Naha, Tokyo–Haneda, Tokyo–Narita

• Cargo flights of Yamato Transport are operated by Spring Airlines Japan.

Other facilities

StarFlyer headquarters

The airline StarFlyer has its head office on the airport property.

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at KKJ airport. See Wikidata query.

Access

Bridge to Kitakyushu Airport

Road

A 2.1 km toll-free bridge connects the island to the Higashikyūshū Expressway via the Kanda-Kitakyushukūkō interchange.

Bus

Terminal	Via	Note	Operator
Sunatsu	Kokura Station Bus Center		Nishitetsu
Kitakyushu Science and Research Park	Orio, Kurosaki
Kusami Station		Runs on automated driving
Hakata Station	Tenjin	only at midnight and early morning

External links

• Official website Archived 2016-11-06 at the Wayback Machine
• Official website (in Japanese)
• "Official brochure in English about the airport" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-01. (3.89 MiB)
• Current weather for RJFR at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for KKJ at Aviation Safety Network