Before the 1930’s, aviators would use airstrips near beaches at Tokyo Bay to land. Long ago, Haneda was a town on Tokyo Bay until the Japanese postal ministry purchased the waterfront land from a private seller in order to construct an airport.
Haneda airfield would open in 1931 before becoming Japan’s largest civil airport which would handle flights to mainland Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Manchuria. Until being turned into a military transport service used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during World War II.
After World War II, the airport was renamed Haneda Arm Air Base and was used mainly by military and civilian transportation used by the U.S. Army and Air Force. But for domestic operations from Haneda, Japan Airlines would begin its first domestic operations in 1951. European carriers began service to Haneda in the 1950’s, including Air France. The airport would be maintained by the US military until 1958 when the property was returned to the Japanese government.
With the Tokyo Olympics taking place in 1964, Japan lifted travel restrictions causing passenger traffic to increase. While Haneda expanded with a third runway, Haneda Airport was nearly beyond capacity. In 1966, the government decided to build a new airport for international flights and in 1978, Narita Airport opened and became an all international service in Tokyo, while Haneda would primarily become a domestic airport.
Fastforward to 2007 and Haneda gained the right to host international flights that depart between 8:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. and arrive between 6:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., the airport also allows departures and arrivals between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
With complaints about the airports departure times only at night and that many of the restaurants in the airport were closed at night, daytime international slots were included in 2013 with All Nippon Airways (ANA) receiving more international slots.
And in 2014, a new international terminal was completed and the airport was expanded. And with the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics, the Japanese government intends to construct a new railway line linking Haneda Airport to Tokyo Station in 18 minutes.
If there is one thing I am always asked, which airport do I prefer…Haneda or Narita Airport?
Both airports have their positives and negatives.
For those who like airports that offer more shopping and restaurants, Narita Airport has an edge. For those who like to leave in the afternoon, Narita Airport has an edge. But there is one caveat to Narita Airport….it’s not located in Tokyo. It’s located in the Chiba prefecture, so getting from Narita Airport to Tokyo takes about an hour, add in getting your luggage, immigration, picking up your pocket wi-fi, exchanging yen, purchasing a ticket via Narita Express (NEX) among other things and you can easily add 2-3 hours to your time before you arrive to your hotel destination.
For those who want an airport nearby Tokyo, thus giving them enough time to do more sight seeing around the city before heading to the airport and don’t mind leaving at night, then Haneda Airport has an edge.
For the majority of my travels, I have went to Narita Airport because my checkout time from the hotel was at 10:00 p.m. and it was just convenient to take the bus back to Narita Airport and get their at noon. Check in and have my dinner and make my purchases at Narita Airport (as there are many places to shop and dine) before leaving at 5:00 p.m.
But I decided to try Haneda Aiport and my airport was safe to leave my luggage in the waiting area and explore the city before I left. So, in a way, it’s like nearly having another day in Tokyo and then taking the bus back to the airport.
While there are restaurants before you bring your carry on and personal item to security, once you get past security, you are left with a few duty free shops and kiosks. And that’s what I liked about Narita Airport, having access to many more restaurants and shopping areas after going through security check in.
I actually left at 3:00 p.m., knowing that I could have probably stayed another two or three hours but I wanted to see how fast it would take to go from Ikebukuro to Haneda Airport and it didn’t take long at all. About a half an hour or so by bus and check in through the security took about a 15 minute wait. It didn’t take long at all.
So, after arriving to Haneda, eating dinner and going through security, I found myself sitting at my gate around 5:00 p.m., knowing I had six hours to pass the time.
Both airports are convenient and there are a good amount of charging stations available for your electronics while you wait. Haneda Airport has different big screen HDTV’s (offered by different companies), but I have to admit, waiting until nearly 11:00 p.m. to depart is kind of a drag.
Fortunately, I met good people from other countries who traveled to Japan to talk and make the time go faster but you start to see the differences between the two airports.
But I do enjoy both airports. They each have both their positives and negatives and many of my friends prefer Haneda Airport because it’s closer and they don’t mind leaving late. Nor do they care about spending anymore money on the day they are leaving the country.
I on the otherhand like that Haneda Airport is in Tokyo and the distance of getting there is shorter, although I don’t like leaving late and I like to make one more dash to the confectionery stores one last time to bring snacks for family and friends. I felt Haneda Airport offers much more in terms of shopping and restaurants but it’s farther distance is quite a drag, especially on the day of arrival.
So, it depends on you. In truth, for me, what dictates my flight to which airport is dependent on the cost of my round-trip flight, if it’s American Airlines/Japan Airlines (JAL), I know I’ll be going to Narita Airport. If it’s United Airlines/Airline Nippon Airways (ANA), I know I’m going to Haneda Airport.
So, whichever is the best deal for me, I’ll take either airport for arrival or departure.
