Kansai International Airport Guide

Kansai International Airport sits on the artificial island of Kankūjima, built in Osaka Bay off the coast of Izumisano. Construction began in 1987, and the airport opened on 4 September 1994 as Japan's first airport built entirely offshore, relieving Osaka Itami Airport of international traffic. A second runway opened in 2007, extending the island to its current size. Kansai Airports, a joint venture led by Orix and Vinci Airports, has operated the site under a long-term concession from owner New Kansai International Airport Company since 2016.

The airport sits low against the bay, and a 2018 typhoon storm surge flooded part of the site and cut off the connecting bridge after a tanker collision, with repairs to the bridge and rail links completed by April 2019. A single terminal building served all traffic until a dedicated low-cost carrier terminal opened in 2012. The two terminals sit apart on the island and are not directly connected; passengers travel between them by free shuttle bus or on foot through the adjacent KIX Sora Park.

A rail line and the connecting bridge road are the only links to the mainland; both carry the JR and Nankai train services alongside limousine buses, taxis and private cars to Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe.