Tokyo International Airport

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Template:Nihongo Template:Airport codes, located in Ota, Tokyo, Japan, is one of the main airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area.

It is commonly known as Template:Nihongo to differentiate it from Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture. Narita handles most international flights to the region; Haneda's only international service is to Gimpo Airport in Seoul, Korea.

Haneda consistently ranks among the world's busiest passenger airports (ranking fourth in 2005), even though nearly all of its flights are to destinations within Japan. By passenger throughput, Haneda is the busiest airport in Asia, handling 62.3 million passengers in 2004. For cargo, it often ranks as the world's busiest airport.

1 History
2 Terminals, airlines and destinations
3 Ground transportation
- 3.1 Rail
- 3.2 Bus
4 Tokyo International Airport in fiction
5 External links

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History

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International era

Template:Nihongo first opened in 1931 on a small piece of bayfront land at the south end of today's airport complex. It was Japan's largest civilian airport at the time it was constructed. During the 1930's it handled flights to destinations in Japan and Manchuria.

In 1945, U.S. occupation forces took over the airport and renamed it Haneda Army Air Base. The Army evicted many nearby residents to make room for various construction projects. As a military base, Haneda received its first international flights in 1947 when Northwest Orient began scheduled service to the United States, Korea, China, and the Philippines. Japan Airlines began its first domestic operations from Haneda in 1951. The U.S. military gave part of the base back to Japan in 1952; this portion became known as Tokyo International Airport. The rest of the base was returned to Japan in 1958.

European carriers began service to Haneda in the 1950s, with BOAC operating de Havilland Comet flights to London via the southern route in 1952, and SAS operating DC-7 flights to Copenhagen via Anchorage beginning in 1957. JAL and Aeroflot began cooperative service from Haneda to Moscow in 1967. Other airlines at Haneda during this period included Pan Am, Sabena, Swissair, Canadian Pacific Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Air Siam. Both Pan Am and Northwest Orient used Haneda as an Asian regional hub.

Haneda's instrument landing system becomes operational in 1961.

The Tokyo Monorail began service between Haneda and central Tokyo in 1964, in time for the Tokyo Olympics. During 1964, Japan also lifted travel restrictions on its citizens, causing passenger traffic at the airport to swell. A new runway and international terminal were completed in 1970, but demand continued to outpace expansion.

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Domestic era

Image:Haneda second teminal and air plane 200603.JPG In 1978, Narita International Airport opened, taking over almost all international service in the Greater Tokyo Area, and Haneda became a domestic airport.

The exception for many years was Taiwan. Following the normalization of Japanese relations with the People's Republic of China in 1974, all air service between Japan and Taiwan was temporarily halted. Japan Asia Airways took over Tokyo-Taipei flights the following year, and was later joined by China Airlines flights to Taipei and Honolulu. These international flights were transferred to Narita in 2002; in 2003, JAL, ANA, KAL and Asiana began service to Gimpo Airport near Seoul, providing a "scheduled charter" city-to-city service which is currently Haneda's only regular international service.

Image:Haneda Bigbird Tarminal 2.jpg The old international terminal, sans immigration facilities, was used as Haneda's main terminal until a new West Passenger Terminal, named "Big Bird," opened in 1993. This became Haneda's domestic terminal. In 2004, Terminal 2 opened at Haneda for ANA and Air Do; the 1993 terminal, now known as Terminal 1, became the base for JAL, Skymark and Skynet Asia Airways.

The Japanese government's Boeing 747, used for transporting government delegations overseas, has been based at Haneda since its debut in 1991.

Haneda may assume a larger international role in the future as Narita Airport is expected to become more overcrowded; a fourth runway is under construction and a third terminal for international flights is being planned. Currently, many international travelers from the Greater Tokyo Area fly from Haneda to Kansai Airport or other international airports in Japan and then connect to international flights, saving the time and expense otherwise required to get to Narita.

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Disasters

1982: Japan Airlines flight 350 crashes near the airport.
August 12, 1985: Japan Airlines Flight 123, bound for Osaka International Airport, Itami/Toyonaka, loses control and crashes into a mountain after takeoff from Haneda; it is the worst single-aircraft disaster in history, with over 500 dead.
1999: All Nippon Airways Flight 61 is hijacked shortly after takeoff. The hijacker kills the pilot before he is subdued; the aircraft lands safely.

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Terminals, airlines and destinations

Haneda Airport has three terminals. The main terminals, 1 and 2, are connected by an underground walkway; a free shuttle bus runs between the main terminals and the smaller International Terminal every five minutes.

Although Haneda Airport is open 24 hours, the two main passenger terminals are only open from 5 AM to 11:30 PM. The terminals may be extended to 24-hour operation due to StarFlyer's late-night and early-morning service between Haneda and Kitakyushu, which began in March 2006.

All three terminals are managed by Template:Nihongo, a private company. The rest of the airport is managed by the government.

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Terminal 1

Image:HND T1 departures.JPG Terminal 1, called "Big Bird," opened in 1993, replacing the smaller 1970 terminal complex. The linear building features a six-story restaurant and shopping area in its center section and a large rooftop observation deck.

Japan Airlines (Akita, Amami/Oshima, Aomori, Asahikawa, Fukuoka, Hakodate, Hiroshima, Izumo, Kagoshima, Kitakyushu, Kobe, Kochi, Komatsu, Kumamoto, Kushiro, Matsuyama, Memanbetsu, Misawa, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Nanki-Shirahama, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka/Itami, Osaka/Kansai, Sapporo/Chitose, Takamatsu, Tokachi/Obihiro, Tokushima, Toyama, Yamagata, Yamaguchiube)
Japan Transocean Air (Ishigaki, Kumejima, Miyako, Okinawa)
Skymark Airlines (Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Kobe, Tokushima)
Skynet Asia Airways (Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Nagasaki) (will move to Terminal 2 in April 2006)
StarFlyer (Kitakyushu)

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Terminal 2

Image:HND T2 departures.JPG Terminal 2 opened on December 1, 2004. It features an open-air rooftop restaurant, a six-story "marketplace" area with restaurants and shops, and the 387-room Haneda Excel Tokyu Hotel.

The construction of Terminal 2 was financed by levying a ¥100 passenger service facility charge on tickets, the first domestic PSFC in Japan.

Air Do (Asahikawa, Hakodate, Memanbetsu, Sapporo/Chitose)
All Nippon Airways (Akita, Fukuoka, Hachijojima, Hakodate, Hiroshima, Ishigaki, Iwami, Kagoshima, Kobe, Kochi, Komatsu, Kumamoto, Kushiro, Matsuyama, Miyakejima [suspended], Miyazaki, Monbetsu, Nagasaki, Nemuro/Nakashibetsu, Noto, Odate, Okayama, Okinawa, Oita, Osaka/Itami, Osaka/Kansai, Oshima, Saga, Sapporo Chitose, Shonai, Takamatsu, Tottori, Toyama, Wakkanai, Yonago)

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International Terminal

Haneda's international terminal currently only handles charter flights, as scheduled international flights are generally required to use Narita Airport. The main international flights during the day are "scheduled charter" flights to and from Seoul Gimpo Airport. These flights are operated by All Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines, Japan Airlines, and Korean Air, each carrier operating two flights per day. The terminal also handles other charter flights at late night and early morning hours when Narita Airport is closed.

A major expansion or replacement of the international terminal is in the planning stage.

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Other facilities

Haneda Airport has a special VIP terminal and two parking spots for private aircraft. This area is often used by foreign heads of state visiting Japan, as well as by Japanese government aircraft carrying the Imperial family, the Prime Minister or other officials. (Narita is also regularly used for such flights despite its much greater distance from central Tokyo.)

Haneda also has a number of cargo facilities, and is the third-largest air cargo hub in Japan after Narita and Kansai.

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Ground transportation

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Rail

Haneda Airport is served by the Keihin Kyuko Railway and Tokyo Monorail.

Keikyu offers trains to Shinagawa Station (19 min., ¥400) and Yokohama Station (27 min., ¥470), and through service to the Toei Asakusa Line, which makes several stops in eastern Tokyo. Some Keikyu trains also run through to the Keisei Oshiage Line and Keisei Main Line, making it possible to reach Narita International Airport by train. Although a few direct trains run in the morning, a transfer along the Keisei Line is generally necessary to reach Narita. The train ride to Narita takes about 2 hours and costs ¥1,560.

Tokyo Monorail offers trains to Hamamatsucho Station (19 min., ¥470), where passengers can connect to the Yamanote Line to reach other points in Tokyo.

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Bus

There is also regular bus service to many points in the Kanto region. The following travel times are scheduled, and may be longer due to frequent traffic jams around Tokyo.