Narita ranked third in airport quality survey

bet they did not include "convenient location" and "cost of use" in the survey!!!!

I admit it is an efficient airport, but paying an extra $60 just to get there and back (plus 4 extra hours) from Kawasaki or Yokohama totally sucks. I am tempted to go to Nagoya instead... Might be faster.

Please let Haneda take int'l flights!

Narita has improved a lot since the early 90s, can never change the inconvenient location, but the things they can change are quite good

Narita, while efficient, is kinda old.

Location is a shocker - not even in Tokyo, and a good 1-1.5 hours to get there from anywhereworth living in in Tokyo.

My airport back home - 30 minutes by car.

Awesome.

Probably Tokyo will just continue to grow out towards Narita. One day, the airport will be quite close to "Tokyo"...

Narita isn't bad, but pretty average I would say. Changi is my favorite. It has great shopping, good restaurants, a gym and a transit hotel. Can't get much better than that for convenience!

I agree - Changi is awesome. It's the Beyonce of global airports. :-)

Narita is really good, not too spread out, great access from the city and best of all everything works to aid the mass flow of people. Chiangi, pass it's too spread out and the young men with sub machine guns walking around freaked me out.

Narita is a good aiport, but as someone has already mentioned waiting on Haneda to make the move to more international. Unless you are a farmer, living in or near Narita is not an option.

I like Narita airport - always have. After Heathrow it's wonderful. The location - well. Why is it so far from Tokyo! You have to go through lots of fields to get there. It could have been built so much closer. And the trains to get there are slow - the Narita Express from Ikebukuro....

I like the restaurants, the roof top for viewing planes. It's clean and efficient. Would like more space in the departure hall - can get crowded.

narita is light-years behind changi and chep lap kok, and behind KL, BKK, and the above mentioned as well

I rather like Narita, as airports go. Not at all fond of the recent police activity - last two times I've been flying out of there (October and December), I've been stopped by the cops in the ticketing area and subjected to lengthy questioning.

Narita Pros: quick and efficient checkpoints, fairly quick customs and immigration, free carts ( not the norm in America ), and it doesn't ever seem that crowded to me. Narita Cons: yes, that far distance, stuffy: minimal ac, and maybe a little worn around the edges. All in all a not so stressful airport experience( and that's good )

You all better have a look at the source! http://www.airports.org/cda/aci_common/display/main/aci_content07_c.jsp?zn=aci&cp=1-7-46^35015_666_2__

Narita is 3rd only in one category out of four - "By size of airport" No mention of Nagoya which took 4th place in same category for 5 – 15 million passengers.

And of coarse the more important "BEST AIRPORTS WORLDWIDE", "Best improvement award by region" and "BEST AIRPORT BY REGION"

narita is light-years behind changi and chep lap kok, and behind KL, BKK, and the above mentioned as well

Maybe if was used as a regional hub not just by US airlines, Narita will deliver on quality as it lives up to its increased demand. But the landing fee there is so expensive and it has curfew from 10PM to 6AM, there's no way Narita could become a viable omnihub in North East Asia.

In the hub airport business, quality follows demand and demand follows facility costs.

size? who cares? what about its overall user-friendliness, choice of places to eat, shopping, internet accesibility, and so on? The size is of no real concern to a person that flies often, but these other issues are. As others mentioned above, the location is terrible and the train to get there, just as bad.

narita is light-years behind changi and chep lap kok, and behind KL, BKK, and the above mentioned as well

Maybe if was used as a regional hub not just by US airlines, Narita will deliver on quality as it lives up to its increased demand. But the landing fee there is so expensive and it has curfew from 10PM to 6AM, there's no way Narita could become a viable omnihub in North East Asia.

In the hub airport business, quality follows demand and demand follows airline use costs. If Narita can't be flexible and cheap for carriers, you will never expect the best service of the likes of Changi, Chep Lap or Dubai.

As i've said before it's not that far from central Tokyo, folks. I live on the east side and can hop a bus on the Higashi Kanto and be there in 45-50 minutes. The new high speed Skyliner opening this summer gets you to Ueno in 35 minutes.

I think Narita is an OK airport, but it's nowhere as good as Singapore (best in the world), Hong Kong, probably even KL.

hokkaidoguy: yeah, even my (J) wife got hassled on our last visit to see our daughter off, but it was very, very noticeable that the police were targeting single non-Japanese.

So, what makes a good airport, people? What's good / bad about Narita? I'd like to know.

Skyliner in 35 minutes? Hello? Link, please, pawatan.

I live on the east side

As do I, yet for anyone else it's an even more arduous trip.

Nice thing about Narita and Japan in general is that they have great handi-cap toilets that anyone can use, and they are private and you can pass things on with dignity. So many other airports, toilets are set up to accept cattle. No privacy etc. And when number two stalls have doors and walls as high as your knees, that disrespects dignity. Might as well not have any walls and doors at all.

Hokkaidoguy and Steen, my sympathies are with you. Narita will never reach the top in user friendliness as long as the National Police Agency uses it as a free training ground for their recruits while using skin color (and not actual dangerousness) as their sole determinant when choosing who to harass.

I've never understood why the manager of the airport, the mayor of Narita, and the governor of Chiba let the NPA get away with that garbage.

I've been stopped by the cops in the ticketing area and subjected to lengthy questioning.

I too, in addition to normal procedures, have been questioned twice AND searched...on a single trip from Narita. It's embarrassing to be the only person searched moments before boarding the plane. If you're traveling solo in Narita airport, then you make an easy target.

Other than that, I'm impressed by the English abilities of Narita airport staff. Perhaps, because I'm used to poor/nonexistent abilities everywhere else.

and it ranks as one of the most expensive. Also way too much walking. Why do we need to get re-screened every time we pass through. Japanese like touching us foreigners? Needs a ton more electric walkways and they need to go alot faster. They move almost the same speed of someone walking slow. What's the point? Also wouldn't you think that at an International airport they would hire people who speak understandable English. Couldn't understand what the girl was saying. Took 3 people to figure it out. Sad airport. I think Japanese should do better...

Narita is light years behind Seoul Incheon.

Somewhat of a misleading title to this article. Below are the Best Airports Worldwide.

1) Incheon (ICN) 2) Singapore (SIN) 3) Hong Kong (HKG) 4) Beijing (PEK) 5) Hyderabad (HYD)

I actually like Narita, once I get there. But as others have said, it is not nearly the quality of the top airports in the world.

and it ranks as one of the most expensive. Also way too much walking. Why do we need to get re-screened every time we pass through. Japanese like touching us foreigners?

Because countries don't trust other's security procedures, passengers connecting through the US also get rescreened. NRT connection security caught a guy with a gun that slipped past US's "tight" security. I never had a problem with the English at the airport. Then again, I have problem with some of the English spoken by some employees at US airports. Pretty much compared to US airports, Japanese airports are gems.

Narita is a Gem and polite English speakers and gentle and kind. Going to America and landing in Atlanta after a 13 hour flight to get a connection is absurd. You have to talk to someone that has no English ability, and does not care, and makes you wait and you got 40 minutes to get the connection and it is not listed on the screens or their printout. Get sent back down escalators, told to talk to someone else and they send you back to the same person. Messed up. Cost me a 7 hour lay over the last time because they have no clue and the computer system does not work, and there is no reason in this world why I should have to ask someone where my connection is and their English is incomprehensible. Narita is number one

Skyliner in 35 minutes? Hello? Link, please, pawatan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyliner#High-speed_Skyliner

Sorry, it's 36 minutes, and to Nippori, not Ueno.

Waiting for an hour to go through immigration is hardly 'efficient.' Shanghai Pudong Airport is, in my opinion, the best airport I've ever been through. From stepping-off the plane and walking through to collect my suitcase usually takes less than 15 minutes. And it keeps getting quicker every single time.

Narita is better than any American airport that I've been in. Never had a major problem there. Just too far away from civilization. They need to rank the worst airports, too. Miami International would get my vote. It has the most discourteous airport staff I have ever encountered.

"Narita is better than any American airport I've been in"

You've never been to JFK, O'Hare, Dulles, San Francisco, Minneapolis or Atlanta, have you?

Going through O'hare is a nightmare! I avoid it at all costs. Detroit's airport operation is not too bad, however you get none of the courtesies the Japanese provide.

For Narita or any japanese airport I've never waiting longer then 10minutes going through Immigration. Maybe I'm just lucky. US Airport, as a us citizen, can't count how long i've waited and been "grilled" by customs and immigration officers.

I vote Hong Kong as the best. Narita is better than in N.America but not all that great.

I've been stopped by the cops in the ticketing area and subjected to lengthy questioning.

The only time I've ever been questions by the J-cops was at Narita. I was standing next to the smoking booth and the cops came along and told all of the smokers to step inside the booth since many were smoking outside next to it. But...I wasn't smoking. I was just standing there. They huddled everyone in and I just kept standing there, then they told me to go inside, and I just kind of held my hands out and said, "Uh, I'm not smoking. I'm just standing here." Out came the little notebooks and the questions...

Flying into Narita from another location in Japan flat out sucks. Talk about long walks. And I wanted to get something to eat before the flight but the have long corridors and then just a couple of places to eat, all of them sit-down types. No convenience stores at all. I just wanted a sandwich but I ended up getting McDonalds since I didn't have to wait in line to sit down like the handful of other places. I have no idea why this airport would be considered one of the best....

San Fran on the other hand was amazing. Out of the plane, down to get the bags, then a 5 minute walk to the BART, then a 20-minute ride into the heart of the city. The customs people were polite and friendly. I suspect people who have problems in the US are probably "chip on my shoulder" type people.

I thought Schipol in Amsterdam was pretty good. But I was connecting on a KLM flight to Nairobi. Any top airports with swanky night clubs & DJs spinning House music? :-)

was Narita ranked third internationally or only within Asia?

Narita ranked third in airport quality survey

This sounds about right to me. I'd rather go through an international airport like Narita anytime than be subjected to the hassles of most of the ones I've been to in the U.S. and Europe.

was Narita ranked third internationally or only within Asia?

Internationally for airports processing 25-40 million passengers per year.

Here is the list. 1) Incheon (ICN) 2) Singapore (SIN) 3) Tokyo Narita (NRT) 4) Kuala Lumpur (KUL) 5) Shanghai Pudong (PVG)

Narita's not bad once you get there. Arriving there used to be like landing in an ashtray, but they've cleaned up the smoke pollution quite well in recent times. And it's usually quick. Several times I've gone from the plane door, through immigration and out to the bus stop in 20 minutes. The all-time worst airports I've been in are LA, which had a customs hall with all the comfort and kindness of a cattle yard, and Honolulu, where they played non-stop 120-decibel ukelele muzak over all the loudspeakers at 5am.

US airports with immigration and customs?

All I am told in US Immigration at any airport I fly into from Japan is, "Welcome home." At customs, "Anything to declare? No, welcome home."

Want a nightmare of an airport? Try Nairobi, Riyadh, Heathrow, Charles Degaulle, or Jakarta. Also any airport in China or Vietnam.

Those will be real immigration and customs nightmares.

Best airports: Moscow, O'Hare, Kennedy, DFW, Dublin, Rio, Canberra, Melbourne, Hong Kong, and Incheon.

Immigration and processing may be fine,but compared with other Asian airports the eating and drinking facilities at tired and depressing Narita are appalling. After checking in, try finding a decent restaurant or bar to relax before your flight.there aren't any! Considering Narita is the main Japanese airport, it pales in comparison with the superb facilities at Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, even the far superior Kansai Airport. Narita is NOT a world-class airport and it is in dire need of a overhaul.

San Fran on the other hand was amazing. Out of the plane, down to get the bags, then a 5 minute walk to the BART, then a 20-minute ride into the heart of the city. The customs people were polite and friendly. I suspect people who have problems in the US are probably "chip on my shoulder" type people.

Out of the plane, long line at the immigration, a longer wait to get your luggage, getting to another terminal for connection is a nightmare, a walk to BART but it gets you nowhere other than a LT parking or Rental car agency, 20 minute taxi ride which equals disgruntled drivers who expects every customer to take you to East Bay.