Travel: Flights to Fukuoka

Fukuoka Airport (IATA: FUK) is located to the east of the city, surprisingly close to the city center (only two subway stops away from the main train station). Within the country, Japan Airlines and ANA fly to Fukuoka from most larger cities, including Tokyo (both Haneda and Narita), Osaka (Itami and Kansai), and Nagoya Centrair Airport. There are scheduled flights to most major cities in China and South Korea, as well as Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City, but the only scheduled transpacific flights are to Honolulu and Guam.

The airport is somewhat inconveniently split into four terminals.?Broadly speaking, Terminal 1 handles domestic flights to smaller cities (eg. Sendai, Komatsu and those around Kyushu), while Terminal 2 handles those to larger cities (Nagoya, Naha, Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo). The two are essentially different parts of the same building, 5 min apart on foot, and the subway station is located under Terminal 2. Terminal 3 is not used for departing flights, while the International Terminal is on the opposite side of the runway and requires a 10-min bus transfer from T2 (free, every 20 min or so).

From Tokyo, flying to Fukuoka is much faster than the Shinkansen, and not significantly more expensive. The usual one-way fare on Skymark Airlines from Tokyo Haneda is ¥24,400, compared to ¥22,320 from Tokyo Station on the Nozomi Shinkansen, and steep discounts are available if you book in advance (as low as ¥12,000 with ANA's Tabiwari discount). The flight takes two hours while the train takes five. If you have a Japan Rail Pass, of course, you'll still want to take the train.