World's first floating airport is sinking faster than expected

It was inaugurated in 1994, and is planned to continue expanding in the coming years.

Reclaiming land from the sea has become the priority of many governments, which face the challenge of making the most of their territory, due to the growing population. In recent decades, nations and companies around the world have embarked on titanic projects based on the construction of artificial islands, on which commercial buildings and housing can be built, as has been the case in Dubai, and even airport infrastructure.

The latter has been the case in the Japanese city of Osaka, which in 1987 began the construction of what would become the Kansai International Airport. An airport located in Osaka Bay, situated on two artificial islands totalling 15 hectares and at least three kilometres from the coast, making it unique in the world.

It was opened in 1994 after a major engineering operation with the aim of absorbing part of the air traffic handled by Osaka Itami Airport, which until then was the only one operating for the Kansai region. However, problems with it soon began to appear. As 'Xataka' reports, for its construction, which is being carried out in different places, it was necessary to carry out multiple excavations in adjacent mountainous areas in order to obtain enough material to fill the seabed and allow the maintenance of the islands.