Kansai to Usher in New Era for Japanese Air Transport

Construction of Kansai International began in January 1987. Situated on a man-made island in Osaka Bay, the airport will have no immediate neighbours, negating the problem of noise disturbance. A 3500-metre (11,500ft) long runway will have a capacity for 160,000 takeoffs and landings per annum with the terminal being able to accommodate a flow of 31 million passengers annually.

The innovative airport was built at a total cost of more than $15bn, making it one of the largest projects of any type ever undertaken in Japan. To create a truly international airport, the Kansai International Airport Company has welcomed multinational participation in financing, design, construction and the provision of equipment for the airport.

Kansai International Airport Company (KIAC) adopted the somewhat novel concept of an offshore airport at the beginning of the project planning stage in order to avoid the aircraft noise problems experienced at the existing Osaka International Airport. Noise is a major problem in Japan and no doubt readers will be aware of how this issue has continually restricted the much-needed development of Tokyo’s Narita airport. Narita still has only one primary runway where air traffic requirements dictate that at least three should be in operation.

KIAC considered that in the longer term it would actually be less costly to create a man-made island offshore in Osaka Bay rather than pay the sky-high real estate prices that are now part and parcel of modern-day Japanese culture. In a way, Hong Kong beat a similar path with their virtual flattening of an existing offshore island to create the immense Chek Lap Kok airport that will replace the much overstressed Kai Tak later this decade. In fact, much of CLK’s construction cost will ultimately be financed from the sale of the downtown Kai Tak airport site.

It is this high base cost and an obvious requirement by the investors trying hard to not only recoup their considerable investment but to also make a long-term sustainable profit, that Kansai has become a thorn in the side of the airlines planning to operate from the new airport. The reason is simply that KIAC has levied landing fees that are significantly higher than at any other airport in the world.

The powerful Orient Airlines Association (OAA) has publicly called for KIAC to “seriously reconsider its intention to apply monopolistic charges on airlines otherwise it will have severe repercussions on the future success of the airport”. The OAA is quick to point out that Kansai will in fact be up to six times more expensive to operate into than the cheapest international port anywhere in the world and double the rate of any other OAA member country.

For a typical 747-400 movement, Kansai proposes to charge a whopping $13,000 (AUD) as against $6400 for Frankfurt, $5400 for Amsterdam, $11,800 for Tokyo Narita and $9000 for Tokyo Haneda (though this airport usually hosts domestic 747SR aircraft), $5100 for Paris CDG, $3200 for New York Kennedy, $3100 for Hong Kong, $2400 for Manila, $2500 for Sydney and other FAC airports, $7500 for Cairns and just $900 for London Heathrow. Some of these ports though also levy additional supplementary charges for various functions so a direct airport-to-airport comparison is difficult.

However the unarguable fact is that Kansai will by a wide margin be the world’s most costly to operate into airport and is probably one reason why initial capacity is running at about half of what KIAC originally estimated. The first months are reported to see around 300 movements per week against the 630 originally promoted by KIAC. Not taking the vocal assault from its future clientele to heart though is beginning to be a KIAC trait as recently the company announced that airlines were in fact getting a bargain and that prices would rise as and when required to ensure that the airport did in fact make a targeted profit. Shades of Australia’s future under an umbrella of independently owned major gateway monopolies?

This fiscal war of words however has not deterred Qantas, Ansett or Air New Zealand from wishing to tap into this crucial market. Indeed, the Osaka region is of great long-term significance to Australia, both in tourism and trade terms. For instance, the region boasts a GDP twice that of all Australia, is home to more than 21 million people and hosts a large number of companies with strong trading links with Australia. The ability for both carriers to be able to directly ship high-quality premium product seafood and other perishables directly into this market will no doubt be a major thrust of their marketing programmes.

Both Ansett and Qantas will commence services into Kansai on September 4 with Ansett having gained the lion’s share of services over rival Qantas. Ansett will operate five 747-300 (typically 380 seats) services a week into Kansai as against Qantas with just five 767-200 aircraft of around 200 seats in long-haul configuration. Ansett initially received approval from the International Air Services Commission (the independent Federal Government body charged with allocating Australian carrier offshore route entitlement and capacity) for four 747 and three 767 services meaning that it now has a surplus of around 200 seats a week of unused capacity. Obviously there is now a case for Qantas to attempt to mop up this shortfall by upgrading from 767-200s to the larger 240-seat 767-300s, a move that would also improve its overall yield and ability to service the obvious Osaka air cargo market. Meanwhile, ANZ will operate three services a week direct to Auckland and Christchurch with Brisbane coming on-line in October.

In 1992, the number of air passengers in Japan exceeded 100 million, with 70 million travelling on domestic routes and 34 million on international flights, and these numbers are continuing to climb despite a currently soft economy. Cargo traffic at Japan’s airports totalled 2.2 million tonnes; 670,000 tonnes on domestic routes and 1.5 million tonnes on international routes. The expansion of international cargo traffic has been particularly dramatic since 1985.

Although approximately 90% of this traffic currently travels through Narita and Osaka airports, restrictions on night-time takeoffs and landings and local opposition to further expansion of these facilities intensified the necessity for a new 24-hour international airport. When completed, Kansai International Airport will be one of Japan’s largest airports in terms of cargo volumes, and its only continuously operating air transport facility. Current projections indicate that Kansai International will be able to process 68,000 passengers per day and 1.4 million tonnes of cargo per year. The airport will serve as the new gateway to and from Japan.

Japan’s Ministry of Transport has been negotiating with many countries over the flight rights to Kansai International, and aviation agreements have been concluded with most major operators. These include countries that have found it difficult to establish flights to Japan because airports there have been unable to handle the increasing volume of air traffic. In addition to the key role Kansai International will play within Japan, it will also function as a primary transportation hub to and from the entire world.

The central section of the airport’s passenger terminal building consists of four floors and one basement level, and is 300 metres in length and 150 metres wide. Extending 680m from each end of the main structure are twin, three-level wings. The domestic and international terminals will be located on alternate floors of the central building in order to minimise travel distances for transiting passengers, and to facilitate departure check-in. The international departure area will be located on the fourth floor, and the international arrival area on the first floor.

An innovative design for the flow of vehicular traffic, and a direct railway service to both the arrival and the departure areas, will make Kansai International the most accessible airport in Japan. The passenger building’s outstanding feature is its unique “wing shuttle” automated guideway transit system, which carries international passengers to boarding gates quickly. The highly efficient design of the airport’s passenger movement systems will make connecting times at Kansai International the lowest in Japan. A newly developed fully automated baggage handling system based on advanced computer technology also contributes to this substantial reduction in connecting times.

Tokyo Narita Airport currently handles the majority of passengers transferring between domestic and international routes, but arriving international passengers must travel by road or rail to Tokyo Haneda Airport in order to board flights for domestic destinations. This inconvenience will not be encountered at Kansai International, where domestic and international services will be offered on a 24-hour basis. Construction of Kansai International’s passenger terminal began in April 1991 and was completed in June 1994.

One of the airport’s most important facilities will be an 11-story complex that will house a hotel with 400 rooms, a shopping centre, a restaurant area, shops and various other amenities. The airport’s offshore location will make access by water as convenient as by road or rail. Kansai International’s ferry terminal is currently under construction and other related facilities, including a railway station and a multi-level car park, are also nearing completion for commencement of operation in September.

The airport’s strategic location in relation to metropolitan Osaka and the surrounding region is best symbolised by the four-kilometre-long bridge that connects the airport with the mainland. The double-layer structure consists of a six-lane road on the upper deck and a two-way rail line on the lower deck. Highway links to destinations throughout the region such as Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, are also under development. In order to ensure that the airport is easily accessible by train, railway services will include direct special express runs from downtown Osaka and from the Shin Osaka and Kyoto rail stations – major Shinkansen “bullet train” stops en route to the airport.

Kansai International has in fact become the catalyst behind major changes currently taking place in the transportation infrastructure of the Kansai region. As the opening of the airport draws near, new sea routes are being developed, including high-speed jetcat ferries (some built in Australia) and hydrofoil services to Kobe and other cities in the surrounding area. The construction of city air terminals in Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe will also further improve access to Kansai International, making it the first international airport in Japan to provide remote downtown location check-in facilities. Cargo transportation facilities, including air cargo city terminal facilities in Osaka and Kobe, are also being developed throughout the region. With 24-hour access to the new airport, these facilities will greatly improve existing transportation facilities for such items as cut flowers and fresh produce, and are expected to revolutionise the cargo distribution system in Japan.