Kobe Airport is a domestic airport on an artificial island just off the coast of Kobe, 8 km (5.0 mi) south of Sannomiya Station Japan. Opened on February 16, 2006, it primarily handles domestic flights, but can also accommodate international charter flights. In the first year of operation (2006), the airport handled 2,697,000 passengers with an average load factor of 61.1%. In 2017, it handled 3,071,974 passengers with an average load factor of 79.4%. In the fiscal year covering April 2022 - March 2023, UKB had a passenger throughput of 3,109,151. The island airport covers just 156 hectares of land.