Fukuoka Airport

Fukuoka Airport (福岡空港, Fukuoka Kūkō?) (IATA: FUK, ICAO: RJFF), formerly known as Itazuke Air Base, is an international and domestic airport located 1.6 NM (3.0 km; 1.8 mi) east of Hakata Station in Fukuoka, Japan. It is officially designated a second class airport. It is operating at full capacity, and cannot be further expanded. Flights stop at 10 p.m. at the request of local residents and resume operation at 7 a.m.

The airport is located in Hakata-ku, south-east of the city centre. It is connected to the rest of the city by Fukuoka City Subway and road, and a subway from the airport to the business district takes less than ten minutes.

Fukuoka Airport is the fourth busiest passenger airport in Japan. In 2006, it was used by 18.1 million people and there were 137,000 takeoffs and landings.

There is only one runway of 2800 metres, and the airport is surrounded by residential areas and the approach is reminiscent of the old Hong Kong airport, Kai Tak International.

In the mid-1990s, Delta Air Lines operated a non-stop flight between Fukuoka and Portland, Oregon, where the airline once operated its trans-pacific hub. When the route was dropped due to financial pressure, Fukuoka lost its first and only non-stop service to the mainland U.S. Fukuoka once again regained its first and only nonstop service to the United States when both Delta and Hawaiian Airlines launched service to Honolulu.

First established in 1943 as an Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Airfield, after the war Fukuoka Airport was the site the United States Air Force Itazuke Air Base until 1972.