How To Get From Osaka Itami Airport To Osaka Kansai Airport
- Konrad Tillman
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
Intro
If you are anything like me, and believe you might have lost the plot when you booked one flight landing into Itami, and the other taking off from Kansai, don’t worry, I've got you. After landing on board the Japan Airlines 767-300ER from Haneda in Business Class, I had about 4 hours until boarding from Kansai. With no plan in motion, I felt a touch nervous.
Option 1: Taxi
For those high-flyer spenders with a burning pocket in their pants, look no further than a taxi. Instead of prancing around like a 5-year-old looking for Waldo, simply head out of Itami, and there will be plenty of taxis waiting to (very) happily take you over to Itami. However, be aware that these prices can often run about 150-170 USD depending on the time of day.
It could be a good deal if there are 4 of you, but I would avoid this unless you really do have that kind of money
Option 2: Train
Alright, moving on from the luxury stuff, let’s talk about more or less how to do this on a budget, starting with the train. You can easily get to the Osaka main station with a couple of stops, first off with the Osaka monorail, which is located a few minutes walk from the terminal, and take that to Amagasaki. Following that, you will take the Hankyu to Osaka station, and transfer to the Haruka Kansai Express. Keep in mind, the last train leaves about 8:30 pm, if I remember correctly.
The price comes out to about 23$ for all three trains.
Option 3: Bus
Now we get to the most efficient option, but one that is extremely underserved: the bus. With only a 4x rotation per day from Itami to Kansai, the Hankyu operates a limousine-style bus that will take you between the two in about an hour and 15 minutes.
But for me, that wouldn’t work either, because I landed after the last departure, which was around 7 pm.
Option 4: Losing Your Mind
Not actually, this might be a little of an overexaggeration, ha. However, with landing so late in the evening, let me walk you through what I did exactly if someone is going through the same scenario, and hoping to catch the redeye to Bangkok.
Back in the day, no, that doesn’t sound right.
In a far land away, no, neither does that.
Okay, upon arrival, I headed out of the baggage claim and followed the signs to the “subway”. With not a clue in the world where I was going, I used Google Maps and eventually found the train that departed from Platform 2, not Platform 1.
Taking the train about 6 stops, I got off at Osaka Station, and was going to attempt to catch another train to Kansai, when I came across a sign saying “airport limousine”. Perfect? Well, at this point, it was 9:15 pm, and by the time I ran over, I saw the last departure was 9:35 pm.
For reference, I bought the ticket 15 minutes before departure on a machine with my US card. Additionally, they seem to operate every hour from about 6/6:30 until 9:35
Grabbing a very cheeky Burger King next door, boarding started right at 9:30, and we pushed off (not back like a plane) right at 9:35. It was a very relaxing coach ride, being an empty bus, and I woke up 45 minutes later when we arrived at Kansai.
The most efficient option? Nope. The cheapest at the time? Yup!
Final Thoughts
Don’t try and do this at night if you are not willing to shell out for a taxi. During the day is completely fine if you are able to line up your flights with a shuttle service or an easy train service. However, with Itami airport basically a dead zone after 8 pm, and shuttles stopping their service, it can be a bit of a challenge. Possible? Clearly…
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