Haneda goes international
(From The Japan Times October 23 issue)

羽田国際化で高まる期待

A new, five-story international terminal building and fourth, 2,500-meter runway opened Oct. 20 at Tokyo's Haneda airport. On Oct. 31, regular international flights will resume there for the first time since 2002.

Haneda airport originally served as a hub for domestic and international flights, but once Narita airport opened in 1978 the government pushed the policy of concentrating international flights there instead. The Hatoyama administration reversed this policy — a move that will be welcomed by passengers tired of the time and expense it takes to travel to and from Narita from Tokyo and beyond.

Airline and airport companies, as well as the government, must prepare for the upcoming deregulation of international flights and the entry of low-cost carriers into the market. Haneda now handles domestic flights, and offers chartered flights to and from Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Once international flights resume at Haneda, the airport will have links with 17 cities in Asia, Europe and North America, including Bangkok, Singapore, Paris, London, Honolulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver.

For the time being, 30,000 daytime slots, and another 30,000 nighttime and early morning slots will be allocated annually for international flights. In fiscal 2013, the daytime slots will double, with the total reaching 90,000. Even so, this figure is less than half Narita's annual 200,000 slots.

As it would be impossible for Haneda alone to handle the increasing demand for international flights, Haneda and Narita must be operated together in a coordinated, efficient manner. A limited express train links Tokyo and Narita in 36 minutes and local governments have agreed to increase Narita's total annual slots to 300,000 in five years.

In addition to its convenient location in the nation's capital, Haneda airport's other big advantage is that it has links with 48 local airports. Efforts should be made to boost tourist travel to Japan's countryside by offering convenient connections between international and domestic flights.

羽田空港で国際ターミナルと4本目の滑走路の使用が始まり、2002年以来初めて国際定期便が運航を開始する。1987年の成田空港開港でほぼすべての国際線が成田に移転したが、鳩山政権下で当時の方針が覆された。

航空会社と空港会社、政府は国際線の規制撤廃と格安航空の市場参入に備えねばならない。

国際定期便の就航が始まれば羽田は世界17都市と結ばれる。

羽田と成田が協力して、高まる国際線需要に応えねばならない。東京―成田間は特別快速が36分で結び、地元自治体は成田の発着枠を現行の20万回から30万回に増やすことで合意した。

羽田は都心からの好アクセスおよび48地方空港と結ばれていることが強みだ。国際･国内線のスムーズな接続により、地方の観光業が活性化されることを願う。