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Kitakyushu Airport could change name to Shin-Fukuoka
September 13th 2019
City’s mayor wants it to be Fukuoka’s second airport. Read More »
Slot constraints at popular Fukuoka airport is seeing neighbouring city Kitakyushu consider renaming its under-utilised airport.
A bus and high-speed train link Kitakyushu Airport with downtown Fukuoka in one hour for a cost of approximately JPY4090 (US$38). A slow train increases journey time to two hours but reduces the cost to JPY2680. However, many tourists have special visitor public transport passes that make the journey cheaper or even free. Kitakyushu can be a gateway to the eastern part of popular Kyushu Island. Smaller Kyushu airports, including Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Kagoshima and Saga, have become popular with foreign airlines.
Kitakyushu Mayor, Kenji Kitahashi, told the Nishinippon Shimbun the most likely new name would be “Shin-Fukuoka Airport”. The “shin” prefix is commonly used when a new train station is constructed near an existing one, such as Shin-Osaka. “Shin” literally translates as “new”.
While Fukuoka will have a second runway by 2024, slots will not double. Fukuoka’s 35 per hour slot cap was due to increase to 37 per hour with taxiway improvements and then upwards of 45 an hour with a second runway. The taxiway improvements are generating better than initial forecast results, and will allow movements of 38 an hour. Fukuoka has a constraint due to a 10pm to 7am curfew. Kitakyushu airport operates 24 hours a day.
Other possible names include “Fukuoka No. 2 Airport” and “Fukuoka/Kitakyushu Airport”. The name change will be discussed as part of a city council committee that will decide whether to privatize the airport. Amongst other benefits, airport privatisation in Japan has grown traffic. Kitakyushu could see especially high growth by combining privatisation with a name change to increase awareness.
