Maehara eyes turning Haneda into 24-hour hub for international flights

Tuesday 13th October, 06:37 AM JST

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Badge213 at 11:57 PM JST - 13th October

The New Skyliner opening next year will bring Narita just a little faster to Tokyo, connecting to the Yamanote Line at Nippori and Ueno Stations in 36 minutes. That's pretty darn fast, and faster compared to other world city international airports.
Badge213 at 12:04 AM JST - 14th October

"Most airports in America are within 15 minutes of the city."

You got to be kidding me right, or famous last words, how about, rephrasing how far are most major international airports from the major cities downtowns?

Takes over an hour to get from any of NYC's major airports to downtown, Washington Dulles is far off from downtown DC as well (Nartional airport only services domestic and small canadian flights). Dulles and BWI are close to and over 1 hour travel times. Many major world cities are like this, and others are not.

New Skyliner you will get to Shinjuku in about 50 minutes with a connection at Nippori. Haneda Airport to Shinjuku is about 50 minutes with connection as well.
Badge213 at 12:06 AM JST - 14th October

I know we like to beat up on Ishihara a lot, but I'm with him when I think there should be plans to have Yokota service commercial flights in the future. Odds of it happening are low, but Yokota can certainly handle the heavy traffic. Living out in Western Tokyo it helps.
GenkiDesuKa at 12:12 AM JST - 14th October

Singapore's airport 1500 yen from anywhere in the country to the airport.

aren't you always 1500 yen from anywhere in the country when you're in Singapore. According to google, Singapore is 10 km2 while tokyo (and, only tokyo -- not the entire metropolitan region of saitama, chiba, and yokohama) is over 2000 km2. This isn't a valid comparison.
realist at 12:47 AM JST - 14th October

What a wonderful new government Japan has! I am really happy. Things are starting to change, and so far, ita all good. Keep up the good work! No wonder they have over 70% approval rating! This news about Haneda Airport is fantastic!
realist at 12:49 AM JST - 14th October

Roll on the day we dont have to make that hideous journey to Narita airport anymore. Narita is a backwater, and maybe it will become a dead duck - just like the LDP who built it and wasted our money in doing so.
GW at 01:18 AM JST - 14th October

I wonder if folks on here will be willing to pay the price for the convenience of Haneda or Yokota, with people here expecting to have 2-3 airports to choose from in Tokyo I doubt the ticket prices will be very cheap............something to think about.

And as others have posted Haneda is close but yet so far considering the time it takes to get there from where ever.

Its nice to dream the airport is 5min away but reality seldom resembles that
YuriOtani at 05:38 AM JST - 14th October

Keep hoping that flights would return to Kansai and Chubu. The government needs to promote this airports and cut landing slots at Narita (the airport at the end of the world) My last trip went Okinawa Incheon LAX, it was on Asina and Business class cost less than UAL, Delta or ANA. It was a nice flight with comfortable seating and good service.
Scrote at 09:33 AM JST - 14th October

I'm not a big fan of Narita: it's the only airport in the world where I have been hassled by the police after arrival and after clearing immigration and customs.

That said, travelling from Sendai it takes about the same time to get to Narita as it does to get to Haneda. Plus, there are flights from Sendai to Narita, but none to Haneda.

The newspaper this morning showed that the landing fees for Haneda are actually higher than Narita and Kansai, so don't expect any bargain flights from Haneda.
Richard_III at 10:36 AM JST - 14th October

The mayor of Chiba says that they've been gambaru-ing but I find this incredibly hard to believe.

Narita is a joke (poor trains with slow connections, lousy shops and restaurants). They could barely make it a worse experience.

As soon as possible, I'll be using Haneda.
nigelboy at 04:02 AM JST - 15th October

Noborito (Boke) :Singapore's airport 1500 yen from anywhere in the country to the airport.

GenkiDesuka (Tsukkomi) aren't you always 1500 yen from anywhere in the country when you're in Singapore. According to google, Singapore is 10 km2 while tokyo (and, only tokyo -- not the entire metropolitan region of saitama, chiba, and yokohama) is over 2000 km2. This isn't a valid comparison.

Classic!

Mittsu, 60km? You are joking. It takes 90 minutes to go from Narita airport to Shinjuku by train. Are you saying that the Narita Express train travels at 45km per hour?

He's not joking. The rail distance via Keisei Line from Narita airpot to Nippori station is 61 km. For Shinjuku, the distance varies on which line you take.

http://www.jorudan.co.jp/best07/keiro/Shinjuku_Narita-Airport.html
shanabelle at 10:16 PM JST - 19th October

Narita ia indeed a back-water! Open Haneda 24 hours, close Narita, give it to the yanks if need be! Minshuto are going great guns so far!
Sarge at 10:18 PM JST - 19th October

"give it ( Narita ) to the yanks if need be!"

Hey, they could move Futenma to Narita!
alexthe5th at 01:44 AM JST - 20th October

This is one of the best pieces of news I've heard in a long time. Congrats to Maehara for finally proposing something that matters to a lot of people.
AlfieJapanorama at 10:05 AM JST - 27th October

Between this ariticle and the other two or three talking about this issue, there are anumber of people that mention 'the poor residents of Ohta-ku' and the increase in traffic noise. None of these people, I guess, live in Ohta or Shinagawa-ku like I do as they would realise that very little of the traffic actually passes over land at all. Most of it takes off and turns over water immediately. I can see planes landing and taking off at Haneda from my balcony and, let me tell you, there is more noise from trains, cars and the myriad of other sources of noise you get in Tokyo than there is from aircraft. Compared to London, Tokyo is remarkebly bereft of air-traffic noise. Having lived in some of the fashionable and most expensive areas of the SW [south-west] post-code in London, where every 40 seconds there is a low-level jet overhead, I am always amazed at the lack of air traffic anywhere over Tokyo.

Haneda makes sense as an international hub, particularly for anyone who lives in south, south east and south-west Tokyo and anywhere in Kanagawa. The Nex and Skyliner trains to Narita are expensive and with an upgrade in the number of trains on the monorail and Keikyu lines, Haneda would make perfect sense for more international flights. I hear that Air Canada have already applied for a landing permit for Vancouver-Haneda flights.....