Tokyo International Airport is commonly known as Haneda Airport
SHORTAGE of runway space at Tokyo’s airports has led Japan’s ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to permit both international and domestic flights to use Haneda International Airport’s Terminal 2 from March 2020.
At present, the terminal is dedicated to domestic flights, but arrivals and departures are expected to increase in the coming years and soar as Tokyo prepares to host the 2020 Olympic Games.
Terminal 1 presently serves Japan Airlines while All Nippon Airways’ flights primarily operate out of Terminal 2. The third terminal is solely used for international flights, but its location forbids the expansion of the concourse and the parking positions for aircraft.
The ministry intends to remedy the problem by expanding Terminal 2 and creating a new area for international flights.
The expansion work will include new entrances and exits, immigration screening facilities, duty-free shops, restaurants and waiting areas.
Access to the airport will also be revamped, with names of stops on the Keikyu Line and the Tokyo Monorail that presently link the airport with central Tokyo likely to be renamed to avoid confusion for travellers going to the international and domestic terminals.
The ministry plans to increase annual takeoffs and landing at Haneda from 90,000 a year at present to 129,000 a year in 2020.
The addition of nearly 40 per cent more flights a year will bring in around seven million more travellers annually, a number that existing facilities at the airport would not be able to cope with.
Construction work at Haneda is scheduled to begin on April 1, 2017.
