The Haneda Airport is located in Ota, Tokyo. This along with Narita Airport, serves the area around Greater Tokyo. The official name of Haneda Airport is Tokyo International Airport.
At first, Haneda was the only airport for the region. Due to over crowding of passengers the Narita International Airport was established. With the introduction of Narita International airport, the heavy traffic was distributed more evenly. Nearly all of the domestic traffic to and from Tokyo is handled by Haneda along with some amount of international traffic.
The authorities in Japan have a plan to increase Haneda’s international air traffic with the introduction of more regional flights and of peak charter services. Already scheduled charter flights are operating to Seoul (S. Korea, Shanghai (P. R. C.) and Hong Kong.
The Haneda Airport is the busiest airport in Japan with a total of 62 100 754 passengers traveling in the year of 2009. With the new runway and international terminal structure being completed, Haneda will handle an even larger international traffic from 2010 October. A brand new complex with the latest facilities will house the international terminal instead of the small building it is running in now from October 2010. There are a total of 46 jet ways at the Haneda airport.
The Terminals
There are three terminals at Haneda Airport. The two main one’s, namely the domestic terminals 1 and 2, have an under ground walk way connecting them. Also a shuttle bus service consisting of one bus runs between these terminals and the small international terminal building once in five minutes.
The airport functions 24 hours. Terminals 1 and 2 opens only at 5 A M and closes at 11:30 P M. 24 hour operation may begin any time now, as certain late night and early morning services have been introduced.
The Terminals 1, 2 and 3 are run by the private company Japan Airport Terminal Co. Ltd (Nippon Kuko Birudigu Kabushikigaisha). The government of Japan manages the other parts of the airport.
Terminal 1
The first terminal complex was launched in 1993 and was built to replace the older terminal building which was a lot smaller. The building structure is linear. The complex has a huge restaurant which extends up to six stories. Shopping area is provided in the center part of the building. A large observation deck runs at the roof of the building. This terminal is given the nick name “the Big Bird”.
Terminal 2
The Terminal 2 building opened on the 1st of December 2004. It is a magnificent structure and has many attractions. An open air restaurant is featured at the roof top. There is also the Haneda Excel Hotel, with 387 guest rooms. A shopping area filled with eateries and stores occupies six floors.
Finance for constructing Terminal 2 building was made possible by the introduction of a ¥ 100 charge, the so called Passenger Service facilities Charge (PSFC), the first of its kind in Japan.
International Terminal
Mainly charter flights are handled by the International terminal in Haneda, as the Narita Airport handles a very large part of the scheduled international flight traffic. There are charter flights scheduled to and from Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai. Other flights are held during late nights and early mornings, when the Narita Airport is closed.
The international terminal building is set for replacement in October 2010, by a new 5 story structure along with cargo facilities which will be completed at the said date.
Means of access
The Haneda Air port is served by the Tokyo Mono rail, the Keikyu railways and various limousine bus services.
Tokyo Mono rail
The Haneda Airport is connected to the Hamamatsucho Station, which comes on the JR Yamanote Line by the Tokyo Mono rail.
Keikyu Railways
Haneda is accessible from Shinagawa Station and the Asakusa Subway Line, as also the Yokohama and Kanagawa Prefecture via Keikyu Railways.
Limousine Bus
There are many bus companies that offer drops top various points in Tokyo and near by prefectures and major hotels. This is a much used convenience.
