When Japan’s Kansai International Airport (KIX) opened in 1994, it was considered an engineering marvel. It is one of the world’s floating airports and cost roughly $20 billion to construct.
30 years on, it remains an important hub in Japan. In 2022, Statista named KIX the third busiest airport in the country, after Narita International Airport (NRT) and Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND). The airport serves as a hub for major airlines including All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, Nippon Cargo Airlines and even Japan’s low-cost airline, Peach.
However, some experts believe that KIX airport may be completely submerged by 2056. To get to the bottom of this, it’s necessary to know the airport’s background.
Even though it’s sinking, it’s still better designed than Narita. They didn’t have to evict a bunch of poor farmers to build this airport, and the regional train services are better too.