Ten days ago, a new international terminal finally opened at Haneda (Tokyo International) Airport near downtown Tokyo. A little bit past midnight on the 31st of October, a JAL flight bound for San Fransisco and an ANA flight bound for Los Angeles took off from the airport. Although the airport served as a gateway to foreign countries until the Narita Tokyo International Airport took over this role 32 years ago, it had served as a domestic airport for many years until a day ago. Three hundred and seventy flights per week between Haneda Tokyo and 17 other cities in 11 countries will be offered.
Narita Airport is located in Chiba next to Tokyo. It takes over an hour to get there from downtown Tokyo by express train which requires you to pay an extra fare. The airport opened under the circumstance where the Japan's government had been having a very hard time buying the land from farmers and securing enough land and massive protests kept going. Since the airport opened, there have been many complaints from both passengers and airline companies. To make matters worse, the government's inability to draw a blueprint for a nationwide airport development has allowed the Incheon Airport in Seoul to play an important role as the hub airport of East Asia. Even Japanese people living in areas other than major cities tend to take connecting flights there.
Although Haneda Airport started offering international services, each of the two airports is going to have its own role. I hope that their roles will be decided based on a clear strategy.
In 1966, the Beatles first visited Japan. The film and pictures of the Beatles getting off of a JAL airplane at Haneda Airport are often used as a symbol of the rapid growth era.
