HND/NRT | Tokyo Area Airports

[helorider14]

taken last January 17, 2011.

Haneda Airport last night while waiting for my flight to Bangkok









entrance to edo town

[helorider14]

observation deck

[helorider14]

Arrival (taken January 27, 2011)

[Comeliness]

Narita International Airport

November 2011.

[krnboy1009]

I am a Haneda guy, prefer flying to Haneda from Korea, because I never fly directly from US to Japan.

IMO Narita is one of the worst airports in East Asia. Which is still better than 99% of American airports.

[Comeliness]

Dec, 2011.

[krnboy1009]

I have been to almost every major US airports. Only airport better is Chicago and thats kind of borderline.

[diablo234]

Originally Posted by krnboy1009

I have been to almost every major US airports. Only airport better is Chicago and thats kind of borderline.

LOL

[hkskyline]

Friday, Feb. 17, 2012
Subway to shorten Narita, Haneda trips
Kyodo

The transport ministry has drawn up plans to build a new subway bypass line and station that would directly connect central Tokyo with Narita and Haneda airports and slash travel times.

The new 11-km section would reduce the current traveling time to Narita by 13 minutes and shave three minutes off the trip to Haneda. The ministry projects that traveling via limited express from an envisioned terminal to be built next to Tokyo Station to Narita International Airport would take just 37 minutes, while trips to Haneda airport would be trimmed to 22 minutes.

The new ¥400 billion subway project is seen boosting Japan's tourism industry, as it would make it easier for overseas visitors to travel between the airports and central Tokyo and facilitate travel to other parts of the country via shinkansen from Tokyo Station.

The ministry projects that around 10 million passengers would use the new line each year, which would be constructed as a bypass on the existing Toei Asakusa line, the officials said.

The central government, railway and subway operators, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government would each cover one-third of the costs under the plan.

[krnboy1009]

How does Haneda get over 60 million passengers a year when all the major international flights depart from Narita?

[hkskyline]

Originally Posted by krnboy1009

How does Haneda get over 60 million passengers a year when all the major international flights depart from Narita?

Haneda does handle international flights these days, and has its own international terminal (photo below). I guess there is also a lot of domestic traffic within Japan.

[krnboy1009]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

Haneda does handle international flights these days, and has its own international terminal (photo below). I guess there is also a lot of domestic traffic within Japan.

I know but its still no where near the level of Narita. Haneda only gets AA, BA, Delta, Hawaiian, and the Asian airlines.

Guess most Asians use Haneda instead of Narita. Would make sense, closer to the city.

[bluemeansgo]

Most traffic domestic. When you have a city the size of Tokyo, a lot of people tend to fly there. In addition, Narita may handle all the international flights, but many connections will involve a flight from Haneda anyhow.

VERY few Japanese fly to Narita domestically, unless they're connecting to an international flight.

The same is true with Itami Airport in Osaka. It's busier than Kansai int'l. If they had built Kansai int'l between Osaka and Kobe, like it was initially conceived, chances are Itami's traffic would've been drastically reduced. However, Kansai Int'l is only in a decent location for South Osaka.

Kobe, Kyoto (and Osaka) are much better connected by Itami.

[Momo1435]

Japan has some of the busiest routes in the world, with 4 domestic routes in the top 10 of busiest routes (domestic and international). Haneda - Sapporo has a capacity of over 1,2 million seats per month, that's almost 15 million seat per year for just 1 domestic route.

[krnboy1009]

With bullet trains you'd think the numbers of domestic airline passengers would be lower.

[Momo1435]

It's a big country, the Shinkansen doesn't reach Sapporo or Naha. Fukuoka is 3,5 hours by plane (city center to city center) and 5 hours by bullet train, that's a big enough difference for the plane to be the #1 on this route. And in enough cases it's even faster to take the plane between Tokyo and Osaka, it just depends on if it's faster to reach the airport or the station from your home or office. Many smaller cities that don't have a Shinkansen connection have a frequent service between the local airport and Haneda. And not just with small planes on those routes, JAL and ANA fly their 767s like American and European airlines fly their 737s and A320s.

It all comes down to the fact that Tokyo has a very big and rich population and it's the main city of country. There's a huge demand for fast transportation to and from the city, it's big enough for both the train and the airplane to have very high passenger numbers.

[krnboy1009]

yea, theres enough people to go around, yea I see what you mean.

I imagine airports would be even more busy without Shinkasen.

[hkskyline]

Keep in mind all this airport traffic is sustainable despite the Shinkansen running at subway-like frequencies!

[Jim856796]

Once the new International Terminal gets built out with its proposed expansion, will the entire Haneda Airport end up getting built out after then?

[Momo1435]

For now only the expansion of the international terminal has been decided.

But there are already plans/studies for a 5th runway, it's most likely that it will be go ahead in a few years time. We might also see a expansion of the domestic terminal, although at first just some smaller additions to the existing terminals. Maybe in the future we will see a 3rd domestic terminal, there's room for it but right now it's not necessary.