Fukuoka Airport (FUK) Spotting Information

Introduction

Fukuoka (Hakata) is largest city in Kyushu Island and the international airport is a hub airport of Kyushu area. More than 160 domestic flights and more than 20 international flights arrive at this airport in a day. You can see many kind of airliners, B747 to BN-2 Islander, also you can see some fighters and transporters of JDAF.

How to get there

from Fukuoka downtown
5min JPY250 from Hakata sta. (connection to Shinkansen and JR lines), 11min JPY250 from Tenjin (city center, connection to Nishitetu line) by Subway.
from Tokyo
<by Air>
44 flights from Tokyo Haneda by ANA, JAL, JAS (105min JPY31,000(O/W), JPY53,000(R/T), JPY16,000 to 17,000(O/W special fare, must buy ticket few days before) and Skymark (105min JPY21,000(O/W), JPY17,000(O/W special fare, must buy ticket few days before), JPY9,900(56days before purchase) to JPY16,500(21days before purchase)), also maybe you can get cheaper international connection fare at your travel agent)
Also any "Air Pass" (ANA Star Alliance airpass, ANA Vist Japan fare) are available.
<by JR Shinkansen train>
Nozomi super express(5h10min, JPY22,320(O/W), JPY41,940(R/T)), every 30min). Rail Map
Check the price of Japan Rail Pass for JR lines too.
from Osaka
<By Air>
9 flights from KIX, 10 flight from ITM by ANA, JAL, JAS (60min JPY18,000(O/W), JPY30,900(R/T), JPY11,000(O/W special fare, must buy ticket few days before)
Also any "Air Pass" (ANA Star Alliance airpass, ANA Vist Japan fare) are available.
<by JR Shinkansen train>
Nozomi super express(2h22min, JPY14,890(O/W) JPY27,900(R/T), every 30min), Hikari super express (2h50min, JPY14,590(O/W), JPY27,300(R/T), every 60min) Rail Map
Check the price of Japan Rail Pass for JR lines too.
from Nagoya
<by Air>
15 flights from NGO by ANA, JAL, JAS (70min JPY23,000(O/W), JPY38,200(R/T), JPY15,000 to JPY16,000 (O/W special fare, must buy ticket few days before)
Also any "Air Pass" (ANA Star Alliance airpass, ANA Vist Japan fare) are available.
<by JR Shinkansen train>
Nozomi super express(3h32min, JPY18,030(O/W), JPY33,880(R/T), every 30min) Rail Map

#The fares above are for ordinary season.
#If you plan to travel by train, check the price of Japan Rail Pass for JR lines. Maybe you can travel cheaper than by normal ticket.

Airlines and Airliners

Domestic
Japan Airlines; B747-400D, B777-300, B777-200, B767-300, MD-90, MD81, MD87, All Nippon Airways; B747-400D, B777-300, B777-200, B767-300, A321, A320, B737-500, B737-700, Skymark Airlines; B767-300, Japan Transocean Airlines; B737-400, JAL Express; B737-400, J-Air; CRJ200, Japan Air Commuter; YS-11, Saab340B, Oriental Air Bridge; DHC-8-200, BN-2 Islander, Amakusa Airlines; DHC-8-100
International
Air China; B767-300, Australian Airlines; B767-300ER, China Airline; A300-600R, Continental Micronesia; B737-800, Cathay Pacific; A330-300, Garuda Indonesia; A330-300, Japan Airlines; B767-300, B767-200, JAL Ways; B747-200, Korean Air; B747-400, A300-600R, Malaysia Airlines; A330-300, Asiana Airlines; B767-300,B737-400, Singapore Airlines; B777-200, China Eastern; A300-600R, MD-90, A320, Thai Airways International; A300-600R, China Southern Airlines; A320, Philippine Airlines; A330-300, EVA Air; B767-300

Weather

The weather is as same as Tokyo except the sunrise and sunset time, about 30min late. See the information on Tokyo Haneda section.

	temperature (degrees centigrade)			total sunny time (hour)	total rainfall (mm)
	average	maximum	minimum	total sunny time (hour)	total rainfall (mm)
Jan	6.4	9.8	3.2	100	72
Feb	6.9	10.5	3.5	114	71
Mar	9.9	14.0	6.1	150	109
Apr	14.8	19.2	10.7	177	125
May	19.1	23.5	15.0	195	139
Jun	22.6	26.5	19.4	148	272
Jul	26.9	30.7	24.0	183	266
Aug	27.6	31.6	24.5	199	188
Sep	23.9	27.8	20.6	158	175
Oct	18.7	23.0	14.7	175	81
Nov	13.4	17.6	9.6	133	81
Dec	8.7	12.5	5.2	117	54

above data is the average of last 30 years

Sunrise & Sunset

date	Sunrise	direction	Sunset	direction
1-Jan	7:23 AM	117.4	5:21 PM	242.7
1-Feb	7:15 AM	110.2	5:49 PM	249.9
1-Mar	6:47 AM	98.8	6:15 PM	261.5
1-Apr	6:07 AM	84.2	6:39 PM	276.0
1-May	5:31 AM	71.4	7:01 PM	288.8
1-Jun	5:09 AM	62.7	7:23 PM	297.4
1-Jul	5:12 AM	61.2	7:33 PM	298.7
1-Aug	5:30 AM	67.4	7:19 PM	292.4
1-Sep	5:52 AM	79.3	6:45 PM	280.5
1-Oct	6:12 AM	93.0	6:04 PM	266.7
1-Nov	6:37 AM	106.6	5:27 PM	253.2
1-Dec	7:04 AM	115.8	5:10 PM	244.2

Map

Where can you take Photographs?

All terminal buildings have the observation decks. But the condition for spotting at the decks is not so good, because all of them are surrounded by fence. Don't worry, you can find some good point near the terminal, where you can take approach shots easily.
Observation Deck in Domestic Terminal No1 Located on 3F in domestic terminal No1. You can find the stares going to there at the south end of the 2F departure hall. Free of charge, open 7:00am to 8:00pm. The mesh size of the fence is 5cm (2inchs) square, it's enough to take photographs. 135mm lens for B767-300 on runway. 75mm lens for B767-300 on taxiway of this side. The propliners turn on runway via taxiway in front of this point, so if you want to take photos of Dash8, YS-11, Fokker50 and Saab340 on the ground, this point is best. Light condition is good until 11:00am. Photos at this point


Observation Room in Domestic Terminal No1 Located 4F in the domestic terminal No1. You can find the spiral staircase going to the room in 3F on the way to observation deck. The glasses of the windows are not so clean. Free of charge, open 7:00am to 8:00pm. The condition is as same as the observation deck.

Observation Deck in Domestic Terminal No2 Located 4F in the buildings. You can find stairs going to there at the end of game corner, south end of 3F. This area is surrounded by glass fences. The glasses is usually clean. Free of charge, open 7:00am to 9:30pm. 135mm lens for B767-300 on the runway. 75mm lens for B767-300 on the taxiway of this side. 200mm lens for B767-300 on the taxiway of international side. Light condition is good until 11:00am.



Observation decks in International Terminal International terminal is located on the opposite side of the domestic terminal. You can go there by free shuttle bus, every 10min, from the domestic terminal. The two observation decks are located on 4F of the building. They are surrounded by glass fences and the glasses are not clean to take photos. The light condition is good in afternoon. I don't recommend this point.

Outside of Airport You can find many spotting points around the airport. And you can go RW16 end area by 15min walk form domestic terminal buildings. Fortunately the ratio of using RW16 is very high. When the using runway is changed, you can catch the taxi on the main street near here and go to RW34 end easily. Also you can go RW34 end by bus, 8min, from the domestic terminal area, take No43 bus and get off at Tukikuma. (See the map above) The buses come every 30min (every 10min and 40min in day time). Unfortunately I have not been to RW34 end, but I heard there are good points for taking photos.

Point C You can go there by 15min walk along the fence from domestic terminal No2. This point is for the airliners approaching to RW14 only. you can't take photos of airliners on ground, because the airport area surrounded double by fences. 135mm lens for B767-300 and 200mm lens for B737-500. Light condition is good after 11:00am.

Point B Near point B. The condition is as same as point C. You can't see the airport area from here, because this park is surrounded by woods.

A point This point is just below of the approach course to RW14. 10min walk from the domestic terminal No2.