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Narita International Airport

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{| class="infobox bordered" style="width: 220px; font-size: 95%;" |- ! colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Narita International Airport
成田国際空港 |- |align="center" colspan="4"|200px

|- !colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Runways |- !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Direction !bgcolor="lightgrey" colspan="2"|Length !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Surface |- !bgcolor="lightgrey"|ft !bgcolor="lightgrey"|m |- !align="left" valign="top"|16R/34L |valign="top" align="right"|13,123 |valign="top" align="right"|4,000 |valign="top"|Paved |- !align="left" valign="top"|16L/34R |valign="top" align="right"|7,152 |valign="top" align="right"|2,180 |valign="top"|Paved |- !bgcolor="#4682B4" colspan="4"|Statistics (2004) |- ! colspan="3"|Number of Passengers |31,057,252 |- ! colspan="3"|Number of Cargos |2,373,133t |-

is an international airport located in Narita, Chiba, Japan, in the eastern portion of the Greater Tokyo Area.
Narita handles the majority of international passenger traffic to and from Japan, and is also a major connecting point for air traffic between Asia and the Americas. It is the second-busiest passenger airport in Japan, busiest air freight hub in Japan, and third-busiest air freight hub in the world. It serves as the main international hub of Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, and as an Asian regional hub for Northwest Airlines and United Airlines. Under Japanese law, it is classified as a first class airport.

The airport was known as New Tokyo International Airport (新東京国際空港 Shin-Tōkyō Kokusai Kūkō) until 2004. While Tokyo is the source of much of Narita Airport's traffic, the airport is located far from central Tokyo (1 hour by the fastest train) and in a different prefecture. Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport), located in Tokyo proper, is the busiest airport in Japan and the fourth-busiest in the world, even though it handles very little international traffic.

Contents

History

The construction and expansion of Narita Airport in Japanese history has been compared to the role of the Vietnam War in the history of the United States, as it led to one of the most infamous (and violent) conflicts between the Japanese government and the Japanese population.

Construction

Landsat image of Narita Airport, 2001. The second runway, still under construction at the time, is visible in the upper portion of the photo; also note the NE/SW taxiways, which would have formed part of a cross runway under the original airport plan.
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Landsat image of Narita Airport, 2001. The second runway, still under construction at the time, is visible in the upper portion of the photo; also note the NE/SW taxiways, which would have formed part of a cross runway under the original airport plan.

In 1962, the Japanese government began investigating possible alternatives to the crowded Haneda Airport, and proposed a "New Tokyo International Airport" to take over Haneda's international flights. The rapid postwar growth of Tokyo caused a shortage of available flat land in the Kanto region, so the only viable location for the airport was in rural Chiba Prefecture. Initially, surveyors proposed placing the airport in the village of Tomisato; however, the site was moved 5 km northeast to the villages of Sanrizuka and Shibayama, where the Imperial Household had a large farming estate. This development plan was made public in 1966.

At the time, the socialist movement still possessed considerable strength in Japan, evinced by the large-scale student riots in Tokyo in 1960. Beside locals who had lived in the area for many years and were unwilling to relinquish their land, many Japanese in the "new left" opposed the construction of Narita Airport, reasoning that the real purpose for the new airport was to provide additional facilities for US military aircraft in the event of war with the Soviet Union. In the late 1960s, a group of local residents combined with student activists and left-wing political parties formed a group known as the , which used a combination of popular appeals, lawsuits and guerilla warfare tactics to hinder the government's development plan.

Eminent domain power had rarely been used in Japan up to that point. Traditionally, the Japanese government would offer to relocate homeowners in regions slated for expropriation, rather than condemn their property and pay compensation as provided by law. In the case of Narita Airport, this type of cooperative expropriation did not occur: some residents went as far as threatening to burn down new homes of anyone who would voluntarily move.

Under the 1966 plan, the airport would have been completed in 1971, but due to the ongoing resettlement disputes, not all of the land for the airport was available by then. Finally, in 1971, the Japanese government began forcibly expropriating land. 291 area farmers were arrested and more than 1,000 villagers and police were injured in fights. Some villagers chained themselves to their homes and refused to leave.

Takenaka Corporation constructed the first terminal building, which was completed in 1972. The first runway took several more years due to constant fights with the Union and sympathizers, who occupied several pieces of land necessary to complete the runway. The runway was completed and the airport scheduled to open on March 30, 1978, but this plan was disrupted when, on March 26, a group armed with Molotov cocktails drove into the airport in a burning car, broke into the control tower and destroyed much of its equipment. This delayed the opening by another two months, to May 20.

The guard wall and towers surrounding Narita Airport can be clearly seen from aircraft landing at the airport.
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The guard wall and towers surrounding Narita Airport can be clearly seen from aircraft landing at the airport.

Although the airport did open, it opened under a level of security unprecedented in Japan. The airfield was surrounded by opaque metal fencing and overlooked by guard towers staffed with riot police. Passengers arriving at the airport were subject to baggage and travel document searches before even entering the terminal, in an attempt to keep anti-airport activists out of the facility.

JAL moved its main international hub from Haneda to Narita, and Northwest and Pan Am also moved their Asian regional hubs from Haneda to Narita. Pan Am sold its Pacific Division, including its Narita hub, to United Airlines in February 1986. ANA began scheduled international flights from Narita to Guam in 1986 and expanded its presence at the airport through the 1990s to become the #2 carrier at the airport after JAL.

Expansion

Under the original plan, New Tokyo International Airport was to have three runways: two parallel northwest/southeast runways 4,000 m in length and an intersecting northeast/southwest runway 2,500 m in length. Upon the airport's opening in 1978, only one of the parallel runways was completed; the other two runways were delayed to avoid aggravating the already tense situation surrounding the airport. The original plan also called for a high-speed rail line, the Narita Shinkansen, to connect the airport to central Tokyo, but this project was also cancelled with only some of the necessary land obtained.

On November 261986, the airport authority began work on Phase II, a new runway north of the airport's original main runway. To avoid the problems that plagued the first phase, the Minister of Transport promised in 1991 that the expansion would not involve expropriation. Residents in surrounding regions were compensated for the increased noise-pollution with home upgrades and soundproofing, although some farmers who refused to give up their land were forced to keep henhouses close to the threshold of the new runway. This runway opened on April 182002, in time for the World Cup events held in Japan that year. However, its final length of 2,180 m, just over half of its original plan length, leaves it too short to accommodate Boeing 747s. Phase II also involved a second passenger terminal, completed by Takenaka Corporation on December 61992.

Through the end of the 1980s, Narita Airport's train station was located fairly far from the terminal, and passengers faced either a long walk or a bus ride (at an additional charge and subject to random security screenings). Transport Minister Shintaro Ishihara, now governor of Tokyo, pressed airport train operators JR and Keisei Railway to connect their lines directly to the airport's terminals, and opened up the underground station that would have accommodated the Shinkansen for regular train service. Direct train service to Terminal 1 began on March 19 1991, and the old Narita Airport Station was renamed Higashi-Narita Station.

In the late 1980s, the Union constructed two steel towers, 30.8 m (102 ft) and 62.3 m (206 ft) respectively, blocking the northbound approach path to the main runway. In January 1990, the Chiba District Court ordered the towers dismantled without compensation to the Union; the Supreme Court of Japan upheld this verdict as constitutional in 1993.

Current issues

Third floor of Terminal 2
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Third floor of Terminal 2

On April 1, 2004, New Tokyo International Airport was privatized and officially renamed Narita International Airport, reflecting its popular designation since its opening. Following privatization, the airport has reached record traffic levels, and several construction projects are ongoing.

In addition to the ongoing political disputes, which have lessened in severity over the years, arguments over slots and landing fees have plagued the busy airport. Because so many airlines want to use it, the Japanese aviation authorities have limited the number of flights each airline can operate from this airport, making the airport expensive for both airlines and their passengers.

One of the most constant criticisms of the airport has been its distance from central Tokyo—an hour by the fastest train, and often longer by road due to traffic jams. The distance is even more problematic for residents and businesses in west Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture, both of which are much closer to Haneda Airport.

Several gates at Narita are being refitted with double-decker jetbridges to accommodate the Airbus A380. Singapore Airlines plans to offer the first A380 service to Narita in summer 2007. [link]

Although the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has given Narita a monopoly on international air service to the Tokyo region, that monopoly has been gradually weakening. Haneda has had limited international service for some time, beginning with flights to Taiwan and later replaced by flights to Gimpo Airport in Seoul. Following the construction of Haneda's Runway D in 2009, the government aims to transfer other international services to Haneda in order to relieve Narita's congestion and expansion problems. Various plans have also been proposed for a third Tokyo airport, either located on the Kujukuri Beach in eastern Chiba or on an artificial island in Tokyo Bay. Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara has proposed redeveloping Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo as a civil airport.

Famous incidents

Terminals and airlines

Passport control, Terminal 2
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Passport control, Terminal 2

Narita Airport has two separate terminals with separate underground train stations. The only connection between the terminals is by shuttle bus (buses are available both inside and outside the security area): there is no pedestrian connection.

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 uses a satellite terminal design. The landside of the terminal is divided into a North Wing (kita-uingu), Central Building (chuo-biru), and South Wing (minami-uingu). Two circular satellites, Satellites 1 (gates 11-18) and 2 (gates 21-24), are connected to the North Wing, Satellite 3 (gates 26-38) is a linear concourse connected to the Central Building, and Satellite 4 (gates 41-47) is located at the far end of Satellite 3.

The South Wing and Satellite 5 opened in June 2006 as a terminal for Star Alliance carriers. The South Wing has seven stories, and the first floor contains facilities for domestic flights by ANA. [link] It is the first airport terminal in Japan to offer curbside check-in service and baggage reconnecting facilities for passengers connecting from international to domestic flights. It is also one of the first airport terminals to have unified check-in desks for an airline alliance, separated by class of service rather than by carrier. [link] SkyTeam also plans to unify its operations in Terminal 1 by early 2007.

Check-in is processed on the fourth floor, and departures and immigration control are on the third floor. Arriving passengers clear immigration on the second floor, then claim their baggage and clear customs on the first floor. Most shops and restaurants are located on the fourth floor of the Central Building.

* Will move to Terminal 2 in winter 2006.

Terminal 2

"Shuttle" used to transport passengers to satellite concourses in Terminal 2
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"Shuttle" used to transport passengers to satellite concourses in Terminal 2

Aircraft parked at Terminal 2
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Aircraft parked at Terminal 2

Terminal 2 is divided into a main building (honkan) and satellite, both of which are designed around linear concourses. The two are connected by a "shuttle," which was designed by Japan Otis Elevator and was the first cable-driven people mover in Japan.

Check-in and departures are on the third floor. Immigration control for arriving passengers is on the second floor, and baggage claim and customs are on the first floor.

For domestic flights, three gates (A65, A66, and A67) in the main building are connected to both the main departures concourse and to a separate domestic check-in facility. Passengers connecting between domestic and international flights must exit the gate area, walk to the other check-in area, and then check in for their connecting flight.

Japan Airlines is currently the main operator in T2; several oneworld carriers currently in T1 plan to move to T2 in late 2006 so as to ease connections to and from JAL flights pending JAL's formal entry into the alliance.

* Will move to Terminal 1 in early 2007.

Cargo carriers

Future Routes

Ground transportation

Rail

Narita Airport has two rail connections, operated by Keisei Electric Railway and JR. A third line, the Narita Rapid Railway, is currently under construction and scheduled for completion in 2010. Trains to and from Narita stop at Narita Airport Station (成田空港駅 Narita-kūkō-eki) in Terminal 1 and Airport Terminal 2 Station (空港第２ビル駅 Kūkō-daini-biru-eki) in Terminal 2.

JR

Narita Express train
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Narita Express train

The fastest and most expensive train to the airport is the Narita Express, which takes 53 minutes from the airport to Tokyo Station and costs 3,000 to 4,500 yen in ordinary class.

All Narita Express trains serve Tokyo Station, sometimes with a stop at Chiba Station. Some trains continue on the Yokosuka Line to Yokohama (90 min.) and Ofuna (110 min.); others take the Yamanote Line to Shinjuku Station (80 min.), then the Chuo Main Line to Tachikawa (105 min.), Hachioji (115 min.) and Takao (2 hr.), or the Saikyo Line to Omiya (2 hr. 15 min.). These trains are all reserved; tickets are sold by agents in the arrivals hall of each terminal.

JR also offers rapid service Kaisoku Airport Narita trains to Tokyo Station, which take 90 minutes but cost less than the Narita Express. These trains stop at several stations on the Narita Line and Sobu Line en route to Tokyo. Most continue on to stops on the Yokosuka Line, going as far as Kurihama Station in Yokosuka.

Keisei

Skyliner train
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Skyliner train

Keisei's Skyliner limited express travels to Nippori Station in 51 minutes and Keisei Ueno Station in 56 minutes, costing 1,920 yen. Like the Narita Express, these trains are reserved and tickets can be purchased from agents in the terminal. Regular Keisei trains cost about half as much and are the cheapest rail connection to the airport, although they are slow and often crowded.

Keisei also offers connecting and through service from Narita Airport to Haneda Airport, a cooperative service with the Toei Asakusa Line and Keihin Kyuko Railway. There are between six and eight daily direct trains from Haneda to Narita, taking about two hours, but only one daily direct service from Narita to Haneda (rather inconvenient leaving Narita at either 6:07 or 7:30 in the morning). In other cases, a transfer of trains must take place at a station along the Keisei line. Trains running through to the Asakusa Line make stops at several subway stations in central Tokyo, including Asakusa, Nihombashi and Shinagawa, making them convenient for some travellers.

Airport Rapid Limited (エアポート快特) trains, which make limited stops on the Asakusa and Keikyu lines, are denoted on signboards by an aircraft icon.

Keisei and Shibayama Railway trains also serve Higashi-Narita Station, located between the two terminals, but this station is currently only useful to travellers moving between the airport and neighborhoods convenient to Shibayama Chiyoda Station immediately east of the airport.

Bus

There are regular bus services to regional transport hubs, although these are often slower than the trains because of traffic jams. Many bus companies operate to and from the airport, charging fares from 3,000 yen for central Tokyo to 4,000 yen for outer suburbs. Operators include: There is also overnight bus service to Kyoto and Osaka (operated by Chiba Kotsu), which takes about 12 hours and costs 9,000 to 10,000 yen.

Taxi

Taxi service is available, although it is usually prohibitively expensive for single travellers because of the great distance from the airport to the city. Fares are based on a zone system; trips to central Tokyo range from 14,000 to 20,000 yen (plus around 1,450 yen for expressway tolls, also late night/early morning surcharges). Shared ride services no longer operate from Narita.

The main road link to Narita Airport is the Higashi-Kanto Expressway, which connects to the Shuto Expressway network at Funabashi, Chiba.

Miscellaneous

See also

External links

Travel guides: Historical and political:

 

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