Aviation Spotting at Osaka Kansai KIX

2023年11月8日 20:19

Basic info

Osaka Kansai International Airport (KIX/RJBB) was opened in 1994, and it is the first airport in the world which was built on an artificial island. The airport is located 10km from the coast, and it takes one hour from downtown Osaka. The airport serves many international flights mostly by foreign airlines, and there are some domestic flights operated by Japanese airlines. It is a main hub for Peach Aviation and FedEx.

What makes this airport special for foreign spotters?

traffic is very similar to Tokyo NRT, but with less variations
nothing really special, to be honest. Almost all airlines which come to this airport can be seen at Tokyo NRT or HND.
There is a Japan Coast Guard base near the observation hall, and helicopters and airplanes of JCG conduct flights almost everyday.

Environment for spotters

Risk：very low
Enviroment for photography：extremely poor
Traffic：okay

Just like any commercial airports in Japan, there is no problem to photograph airplanes at this airport. However, there are only some places you can photograph airplanes since the airport itself is on an artificial island. There is an official spotting hall in the northern part of the island near RWY24L, but there is no spotting deck inside the terminal. Also, the light condition is bad at the spotting hall in the northren area.

It is quite rare that a terminal building does not have an observation deck in Japan, but I have read it is because the terminal building at KIX was designed by an Italian guy, and he forgot (or did not have an idea) to install an observation deck since planespotting is not really understood in Italy (especially when the terminal building was built in 1994).

Runway Operations

There are two runways at this airport: 06R/24L and 06L/24R. You need to give up with taffic on 06L/24R since the runway is too far away from any possible photo locations. The airplanes are ruined by heat heaze and backlight. Traffic arriving on 06R is also hard to photograph due to the same reasons, but departures from 06R can be photographed from the observation hall. In addition, there is no location which you can clearly photograph cargo area and the southernmost area of the airport.

All the traffic departing from 24L taxi in front of the observation hall, and it is a big chance to photograph airplanes. However, RWY24L approach is extremely rare nowadays, and RWY06L/24R is mostly used for landings (which you need to give up as I explained). On the other hand, airplanes usually never depart from RWY06L/24R except for midnight.

Spotting locations

1 . Observation Hall

There is an observation hall in the northern part of the airport. This is the only place you can see airplanes clearly without having too much heat haze. In the afternoon the light condition for airplanes taxiing to RWY24L and on the runway becomes good.

RWY24L approach was the only option to spot planes at this airport with beautiful sunlight in the afternoon. You might have seen pictures of airplanes on final approach with a bridge and a skyscrapper in the background. However, the airport updated flight routes for takeoff and landing a few years ago, and RWY24L approach has been rarely used since then.

There is a free shuttle bus from Terminal 1, but you can access by your own car as well. If you are coming by public transportation, you first need to go to Terminal 1 and take the free shuttle. It runs every 15-30 minutes as I remember (it is updated depending on Corona situation).

There are toilets, restaurants and souvenir shops in the hall, and you can buy aviation goods such as keyrings, flight tags, stickers, Herpa plane models etc. I would recommend you not to have high expectations to the restaurants.

You need to give up when they perform a inter-section takeoff from RWY24L.

Backlight in the afternoon, but it is no problem at night or when the weather is bad.

The sunlight for departing traffic taxiing to RWY24L becomes good in the afternoon.

RWY24L landing has become rare at this airport. In the afternoon it was the best condition to photograph planes at this airport.

2 . Terminal 1 North, Departure Level

This location can be directly accessed from Terminal 1. Once you leave the terminal building on the international departure floor (5th floor), walk to the right until the end of the pedestrian road. You can see movements in the Northern gates of Terminal 1 which are mostly used by Finnair, Cathay Pacific, Eva Air and ANA.

The sunlight is the best from the noon until the sunset. Heat haze is a problem. You could see movements on RWY24R, but it is far away and most likely your photos will be ruined by heat haze or backlight. Traffic on short final to RWY24L is visible, but this operation has become rare nowadays and photos will be ruined by heat haze.

The sunlight becomes good in the afternoon, but be aware of the boarding bridges.

This is one of interesting shots you can take at KIX. There are several Cathay airplanes in the afternoon, and you can see 3 or 4 of them parked next to each other.

3 . Parking House No.2

This location is also for Terminal 1 North gates, just like spotting location No.2. It enables you to see airplanes without being blocked by boarding bridges.

4 . Terminal 1 South, Departure Level

This location is for airplanes in the south of Terminal 1 and arrival traffic from RWY06L/24R which are taxiing to any gates at Terminal 1. Light condition is okay only in the morning. It is on the international departure level of Terminal 1. Once you leave the building from the 5th floor, walk to the left until the pedestrian road comes to an end.

You can walk up to this point. The sign is written only in Japanese, but it says "no entry".

The A380 landed on RWY06L/24R, and taxiing to its parking position.

5 . Terminal 1 South, Ground Level

This location is near the traffic tower. Once you leave Terminal 1 on the ground level, turn left and keep walking on the pedestrian road. You will see tails of airplanes through the fence. You can photograph planes through the fence.
There is a newly installed concrete wall which is about 120cm tall, but it should not be a big problem to photograph planes. In the past there was no such wall and it was easier to see planes… You need a really wide lens for this location such as 14mm in order to capture entire fuselage of A350. The best light condition is in the afternoon.

You will see many policemen walking just behind you, but it is just because there is a main police office next to the control tower. They would never stop you.

6 . Fire Station

This is a location where you can see movements on RWY06R/24L. Although heat haze is a huge problem in summer, you can see airplanes with nice light condition especially in the afternoon. You can see airplanes parked near this location. Also, this is the best place for arrival traffic taxiing to its gate in Terminal 1 after landing on RWY06L/24R. You can spot through a fence, and you need to walk about 1km from Terminal 1. Due to a fence and a wall, you cannot see traffic which crosses a bridge. There is nothing nearby.

200mm is enough for movements on RWY06R/24L

Be aware that your main targets on the runway are often blocked by another traffic, mostly by Chinese planes (you see Air China's ass in the photo).

It is not rare that ground vehicles block the view when you photograph in this location.

B787 taxiing towards its gate at Terminal 1 South.

B787 taxiing from its gate at Termianl 1 South.

B777 taxiing to its gate at Terminal 1 South

VIP planes often park at a spot which can be seen from this location. I was unlucky that the nose of the Turkmenistan B777 was blocked by the staircase…

7 . Terminal 2

Terminal 2 is mainly used by Peach Aviation. This is inside a paking lot of buses, but you can enter and photograph some of the planes through the fence.

8 . Bridge between the terminals

You can see traffic crossing this bridge through the fence. It is backlight except in the early mornings in summer. Be careful not to be hit by trucks and buses when you cross the street.

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