Photo/Illutration A selected group of local residents participate in a preview tour of Kobe Airport’s newly built international Terminal 2 on April 11. (Natsu Miyasaka)

Kobe Airport will begin international flight operations on April 18, marking a major shift from its domestic-only status to boost the city’s tourism and economy.

With routes to five cities across China, South Korea and Taiwan, the expansion establishes the airport as a new gateway for the growing number of tourists visiting Japan.

Initially operating as charter services, the flights will link Kobe to Seoul, Shanghai, Nanjing, Taipei and Taichung with a total of 40 round trips per week.

All routes will operate daily, except for Taipei, which will have five round trips per week.

A newly constructed terminal will accommodate the airport's international flights.

Although technically classified as charters arranged by travel agencies based on demand, tickets will be available directly through airline websites, making the experience similar to that of regular scheduled flights.

The internationalization of Kobe Airport became possible after the loosening of regulatory restrictions that were previously in place due to route-sharing agreements with Kansai International Airport and Osaka Itami Airport.

According to the Hyogo Economic Research Institute, the new flights are expected to attract an additional 300,000 international visitors to Kobe annually. This may potentially generate an economic ripple effect of 10.4 billion yen ($72.79 million) for Hyogo Prefecture.

If visitors extend their stays in the prefecture by just one day, the economic impact could rise by another 8.2 billion yen, the think tank estimates.

Kobe officials are hopeful that the success of these initial operations will pave the way for the introduction of regular international routes around 2030.

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Tourism stakeholders in Hyogo are optimistic.

While neighboring Osaka and Kyoto prefectures drew 14.09 million and 10.49 million foreign visitors, respectively, in 2024, Hyogo lagged behind at just 1.88 million.

The new international access is seen as a crucial step toward closing that gap.

Local destinations such as the Arima onsen area stand to benefit significantly. It takes just 30 minutes by car from Kobe Airport to the spa resort—about a third of the time required for a journey from Kansai International Airport.

"Visitors from Taiwan and other parts of Asia may come here with the same ease as domestic tourists," said Hironobu Kanai, president of the Arima Hot Springs Tourism Association.

In Kobe’s Chinatown district, Nankinmachi, businesses are also hopeful.

The popular tourist area hasn’t fully recovered from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; visitor numbers are at 80 to 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels, according to Shoichi Go, who heads the local shop owners’ association.

“International flights could be a huge boost for the Kobe economy,” Go said. “We hope to eventually see direct flights from Europe and North America as well.”

Kobe Mayor Kizo Hisamoto also emphasized the broader potential.

“This is not just about tourism. International flights will open the door to new business opportunities for the city,” he said.

(This article was compiled from reports by Rui Hosomi, Takeshi Okada and Seiya Hara.)

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