You can now land at the Hello Kitty airport: This city has decided to give its air traffic a twist

Known for its shrines, temples, ryokan and onsens, the Japanese city of Oita now has another pull factor to lure tourists who are visiting the country for Expo 2025 - which is being held in Osaka for the second time (the first was in 1970).

To coincide with the inauguration of the World Expo on April 13, Oita Airport was renamed Oita Hello Kitty Airport. The name change will run until Expo 2025 ends on October 13.

Welcome to Hello Kitty Airport

The character appears in all parts of the airport - on the boarding bridge on posters dragging her trolley suitcase along and riding on a miniature plane.

Just over two million passengers pass through Oita Airport annually and government officials hope Hello Kitty’s presence will attract more travelers who want to explore other parts of Japan during their trip.

Harmonyland theme part in Hiji

Anyone visiting Oita Prefecture might want to pop in to Harmonyland, Santio’s theme park in Hiji for a full-on cho kawaii experience with Kitty and her friends My Melody, Tuxedo Sam, Zashikibuta, Keroppi Monkichi et al. A shuttle bus service connecting the airport to Harmonyland will run between August and October.

Sanrio Entertainment president Aya Komaki said, “We will make efforts so that Harmonyland can contribute to attracting tourists in and outside the country as one of Oita Prefecture’s attractions”.

National carriers JAL, ANA and Ibex Airlines all offer daily direct flights from Osaka (OSAA) to Oita (OIT) - a journey that takes around one hour - a quarter of the time the same journey takes by train.

‘Designing Future Society for Our Lives’ is the theme for this year’s Expo with sub-themes of “Saving Lives”, “Empowering Lives” and “Connecting Lives” and “People’s Living Lab” as the concept.

Up to April 19, 639,875 visitors have attended Osaka Expo 2025 with total ticket sales just under 10 million (9,978,217) according to figures from the Japan Official Ticket Purchase Website.

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