Landing at Kansai International Airport

What KIX is like

Kansai was built on reclaimed ground in the middle of the bay and is tied to the mainland by a single crossing that carries both the railway and the road. It is the gateway for Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe at once, so a large share of arrivals are not headed into Osaka at all but straight onto a train for Kyoto. There are two terminals, and the one the budget carriers use is reached by a shuttle ride. The thing that most often breaks a schedule here is underestimating the crossing.

On arrival

Get the line up on landing; the island is open ground with masts close by, so it usually registers quickly. Use the walk to the counters to finish the entry paperwork Japan now handles on screen, because the queue here moves in blocks according to how many aircraft came in together. If your ticket uses the terminal the budget carriers work from, add the inter-terminal shuttle to your timing. After the belts, the walkway to the railway station stays inside the building and is signposted the whole way, so you never step outside. Anyone meeting you should be told which terminal you are actually in.

How far the airport Wi-Fi gets you

The free Wi-Fi covers the main halls and the waiting areas, but as everywhere here there is a terms page in the way, and on a handset that has just woken up you often have to open a browser yourself to summon it. In the hours when several Asian arrivals land together, the speed drop is noticeable. The catch is where it ends: it stops at the platform, and the crossing is exactly the stretch where you want a map open. Treat it as something to fall back on rather than something to plan around.

Getting into town

Two rail operators leave from the same station attached to the terminal: one runs a reserved-seat limited express, the other a cheaper service that stops more often. The usual targets are the Namba district and Osaka's main station, while people bound for Kyoto generally take the through express and stay on it. Buses run straight to hotel districts and suit anyone travelling with a lot of luggage. Signal over the crossing is steady because it is open track above water; once you are into the built-up area you start hitting underground sections. The ride itself costs little data. What actually consumes it is the map and the menu translation on a first evening in Osaka.

What people ask about this airport

• Know which terminal you are in — The budget-carrier terminal is separate and reached by shuttle, so if someone is collecting you or you booked a car, say which building you will actually walk out of.
• Pick your train before the ticket machines — Two operators share one station and serve different destination sets, so a minute with a map beforehand saves you deciding in front of a machine with a queue behind you.
• Kyoto does not go through Osaka first — There is a through service from the airport to Kyoto, and people who do not know that often make several unnecessary changes on the most tiring day of the trip.