Haneda Airport<\/a>, 13 minutes by train from Merner\u2019s office in Tokyo\u2019s center, is opening a $1.3 billion international terminal and starting flights to the U.S. and Europe this month. The expansion provides an alternative for the millions of business travelers and tourists making the 70 kilometer (40 mile) journey to and from Narita International Airport each year.<\/p>\n\u201cIf I go to Korea, it takes as long to get to Narita as from Narita to Seoul,\u201d said Merner, president of Tokyo-based Atlantis Investment Research Corp. \u201cGoing to Haneda is very convenient. People will love it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tokyo is boosting air traffic as it faces challenges from Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai as regional financial hubs. Combined expansions at Haneda, Asia\u2019s second-busiest airport after Beijing, and Narita will add about 1 trillion yen ($12 billion) to Japan\u2019s economy next fiscal year by boosting tourism, air cargo and real estate prices, the government said.<\/p>\n
Japan Airlines Corp., All Nippon Airways Co., American Airlines and British Airways Plc are adding flights from Haneda to New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Singapore.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe advent of multiple new flights flying in and out of Haneda is being viewed most favorably by senior financial professionals,\u201d said John McCrohon, a director of financial services at recruitment consultancy Robert Walters Japan K.K. The expansion will promote Tokyo as a \u201ccentral business hub.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haneda, Japan\u2019s busiest airport with 62 million passengers last year, will add 40,000 overseas take-off and landing slots along with the new 110 billion yen, five-story terminal. The building has more than 100 restaurants and shops, including a Hello Kitty outlet and a replica of an Edo-era street.<\/p>\n
New Flights<\/p>\n
All Nippon is adding five international destinations a week from Haneda to cities including Los Angeles, Honolulu and Singapore, while Japan Airlines will add flights to six overseas cities, including Paris and San Francisco. The two airlines already fly to Hong Kong, China and South Korea from the airport, after Haneda reintroduced short-haul overseas flights in 2002, when Japan and South Korea co-hosted soccer\u2019s World Cup. Merner, who flies overseas four or five times a year, said he already uses Haneda for trips to Seoul and Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re competing on time and we have a big advantage,\u201d said Mutsuo Egashira, a senior vice president at Tokyo International Air Terminal Corp., manager of the new terminal. \u201cTourism will have a significant impact on the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Delta Air Lines Inc. will offer flights from the new terminal to Los Angeles and Detroit, American will link to New York, Hawaiian Airlines Inc. will fly to Honolulu and British Airways to London.<\/p>\n
Haneda Premium<\/p>\n
Some airlines said they will charge a premium for flights from Haneda, compared with Narita. All Nippon Air aims to get higher fares from the downtown airport, charging about 10,000 yen more for some discount tickets. Japan Airlines said tickets to Seoul\u2019s Incheon and Honolulu may be more expensive.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaneda constitutes a real product benefit,\u201d said Mark Dunkerley, chief executive officer of Hawaiian Airlines. \u201cPeople are going to be able to fly to their favorite destination from a more convenient airport.\u201d<\/p>\n
The expansion at Haneda includes a fourth runway that will boost take-off and landing slots to 371,000 annually, according to the transport ministry. Capacity may rise to 447,000 a year by fiscal 2013 if the airport shows its traffic control system can handle the increase, the ministry said. Narita increased capacity 10 percent to 220,000 slots earlier this year and plans to add another 80,000 slots by fiscal 2014.<\/p>\n
Trillion Yen Boost<\/p>\n
\u201cThe development and opening up of Haneda is good news for Tokyo and the Japanese economy,\u201d said Laurie Price, director of aviation strategy at Mott MacDonald Group Ltd. Air traffic constraints \u201chave been bad for Japanese trade and tourism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
International passengers at Haneda will probably increase to about 7 million in the first 12 months of operations, compared with about 2.5 million a year now, said Egashira.<\/p>\n
Narita will increase passenger numbers to 34 million next fiscal year from an estimated 33 million this year, according to Narita International Airport Corp.<\/p>\n
\u2018At Capacity\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cJapan has been completely at capacity,\u201d said Giovanni Bisignani, chief executive officer of the International Air Transport Association, a Montreal-based trade group.<\/p>\n
Haneda\u2019s new flights include a thrice-weekly service to Kuala Lumpur by low-cost carrier AirAsia X Sdn, starting in December.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we could get a daily flight to Haneda, that would be fantastic,\u201d Azran Osman Rani, chief executive officer of AirAsia X, the long-haul unit of AirAsia Bhd., told reporters in Tokyo last month.<\/p>\n
Tourists coming to Japan will climb to 15 million by 2013, from 6.8 million last year, should the government meet its estimates. About 15 million Japanese traveled overseas last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaneda will be able to attract a greater amount of demand from airlines,\u201d Yasuhiro Matsumoto, an analyst in Tokyo at Shinsei Securities Co. \u201cIt will give a boost to the Tokyo metropolitan area.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rail links will deliver passengers to Haneda\u2019s new terminal in 13 minutes from either the city\u2019s main loop line or from the bullet train stop at Shinagawa station when it opens next week. Beijing airport links to the city by fast train in 16 minutes. Fliers to Hong Kong, which opened a new airport in 1998, can take a train downtown in 24 minutes. The express train to Narita takes an hour.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting to Narita is a nightmare,\u201d said Chieko Yamane, 48, a Tokyo office worker, who lives in Kanagawa prefecture, the other side of Tokyo, and jets abroad three or four times a year. \u201cHaneda is much better, so easy and simple, especially when I bring scuba gear. I can hardly wait.\u201d <\/p>\n