Narita International Airport
Narita International Airport (Japanese: 成田国際空港 Narita Kokusai Kūkō) (IATA airport code: NRT, ICAO Airport Code: RJAA) is an international airport in the eastern portion of Narita, Chiba, Japan. It handles most international traffic into Tokyo and the Greater Tokyo Area, and serves as a hub to Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Northwest Airlines, and United Airlines. It is classified as a first class airport.
History
In 1962, the Japanese government began investigating possible alternatives to the crowded Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport), and proposed a New Tokyo International Airport (新東京国際空港 Shin-Tōkyō Kokusai Kūkō) to take over Haneda's international flights. Initially, surveyors proposed placing the airport in the village of Tomisato: however, Tomisato residents refused to give up their land, so the site was moved 5 km northeast to the village of Sanrizuka where the Imperial Household had a large farm, the government therefore had less difficulty to place the planning airport.
Due to land scarcity and weak expropriation laws, the inital and ongoing development of Narita Airport has been the cause of great controversy. It was just the time during the Vietnam War and a large number of people against the war seemed the new airport as a new participation to the war. The Japanese government has offered to relocate home-owners in the surrounding regions: however, neighbours have threatened to burn down the new home of anybody who voluntarily moves. In 1971, when expropriations began, 291 area farmers were arrested and more than 1,000 villagers and police were injured in fights. Later that year, some villagers chained themselves to their houses and refused to leave.
The airport was scheduled to open in March of 1978. Shortly before its scheduled opening, a group of villagers broke into the control tower and destroyed much of its equipment, delaying the opening by another two months.
In 1986, 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, authorities agreed not to confiscate land. 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. The runway opened in April of 2002, in time for the World Cup events shared between Japan and South Korea.
Today, individuals continue to stage demonstrations regularly on the eastern edge of the airport.
Narita has also had other problems. 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.
Recently, Tokyo International Airport was allowed to have other international flights within Asia, as well as to Hawaii, in an attempt to alleviate Narita's problems with capacity. There has been some discussion about exchanging roles between Narita airport and Haneda to accommodate Tokyo residents as Narita is in Chiba prefecture and a typical train ride from even the eastern parts of Tokyo on an express train takes roughly 1 hour.
In May 2001, Kim Jong-nam, the son of North Korean President Kim Jong-il, was arrested at New Tokyo International Airport, travelling on a forged passport, and was deported to the People's Republic of China.
On April 1, 2004, New Tokyo International Airport was officially renamed Narita International Airport, although "Narita Airport" has been its popular designation since the 1970's.
Disasters
On June 22, 1985, a piece of luggage that was checked into Vancouver International Airport in Vancouver, British Columbia was in transit to an Air India flight in New Tokyo International Airport when it exploded, killing two baggage handlers in New Tokyo International Airport. 55 minutes later, a piece of luggage that also originated from Vancouver on Air India Flight 182 exploded, killing all of the passengers on the flight.
On December 11, 1994, Philippine Airlines Flight 434 was flying on its second leg of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport - Mactan-Cebu International Airport - New Tokyo International Airport route when a bomb on board exploded, killing a passenger. The airliner was able to make an emergency landing.
Authorities later found out that Ramzi Yousef planted the bomb on the airliner to test the bomb for his Project Bojinka plot. His project was discovered in Manila, Philippines after an apartment fire on the night of January 6 and the morning of January 7, 1995. If the plot had not been discovered, one or more aircraft owned by a U.S. carrier/s flying to this airport would have blown up over the Pacific Ocean on January 21, 1995 as part of the project's first phase.
Airlines
Terminal 1
- Aircalin (Noumea)
- Air France (Paris de Gaulle)
- Air Tahiti Nui (Papeete, nonstop and via Osaka Kansai)
- Alitalia (Rome)
- American Airlines (Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York JFK, Los Angeles, San Jose CA)
- British Airways (London Heathrow)
- Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)
- Finnair (Helsinki)
- KLM (Amsterdam)
- Korean Air (Busan, Jeju, Seoul Incheon, Los Angeles)
- Northwest Airlines (Agana, Bangkok, Detroit, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Manila, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Portland OR, Saipan, Seattle/Tacoma, Seoul Incheon, Singapore, Taipei)
- Singapore Airlines (Los Angeles, Singapore)
- United Airlines (Bangkok, Chicago O'Hare, Hong Kong, Honolulu, New York JFK, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei)
- Varig (Sao Paulo via Los Angeles)
- Virgin Atlantic (London Heathrow)
Terminal 2
- Aeroflot (Moscow SVO)
- Air Canada (Toronto, Vancouver)
- Air China (Beijing, Shanghai)
- Air India (Bangkok, Vancouver)
- Air Japan (Honolulu)
- Air New Zealand (Auckland, Christchurch)
- Air Nippon (Taipei)
- Air Niugini (Port Moresby)
- Air Pacific (Nadi)
- All Nippon Airways (Beijing, Dalian, Fukuoka, Hangzhou, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Nagoya, New York JFK, Osaka Itami, Paris de Gaulle, Qingdao, Shanghai, Seoul Incheon, Vancouver, Washington Dulles)
- Asiana Airlines (Seoul Incheon)
- Austrian Airlines (Vienna)
- Biman Bangladesh (Bangkok)
- China Airlines (Honolulu, Taipei)
- China Eastern Airlines (Shanghai, Xian)
- China Southern Airlines (Dalian, Guangzhou)
- Continental Airlines (Houston Bush, Newark)
- Continental Micronesia (Hagatna)
- Delta Air Lines (Atlanta)
- Egyptair (Cairo)
- Eva Air (Taipei)
- Fair Link (Hiroshima, Sapporo Chitose, Sendai)
- Garuda Indonesia (Denpasar)
- Iran Air (Beijing, Tehran)
- JALways (Agana, Saipan)
- Japan Air Lines (Amsterdam, Bangkok, Brisbane, Delhi, Denpasar, Frankfurt, Fukuoka, Guangzhou, Honolulu, Jakarta, Kona, Kuala Lumpur, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Manila, Mexico City via Vancouver, Milan, Nagoya, New York JFK, Osaka Itami, Qingdao, San Francisco, Sao Paulo via New York JFK, Sapporo Chitose, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Vancouver)
- Japan Asia Airways (Taipei)
- J-AIR (Nagoya)
- Lufthansa (Frankfurt, Munich)
- Malaysia Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)
- MIAT Mongolian Airlines (Ulanbataar)
- Nakanihon Airlines (Nagoya, Sendai)
- Pakistan International Airlines (Karachi via Islamabad and Beijing)
- Philippine Airlines (Cebu)
- Qantas (Cairns, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney)
- Scandinavian Airlines System (Copenhagen)
- Sri Lankan Airlines (Colombo, Male)
- Swiss International Airlines (Zurich)
- Thai Airways International (Bangkok)
- Turkish Airlines (Istanbul)
- Uzbekistan Airways (Tashkent via Osaka Kansai)
- Vietnam Airlines (Ho Chi Minh City)
Ground transportation
The Keisei Electric Railway and JR Narita Line connect Narita Airport to Tokyo and other cities in the region. JR offers the high-speed Narita Express service, which takes 53 minutes from the airport to Tokyo Station: Keisei's Skyliner limited express travels to Ueno Station in 56 minutes. Recently, Keisei has joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation and Keihin Kyuko Railway in offering direct rail service from Narita Airport to Haneda Airport, which takes about 105 minutes.
There are also regular bus services to regional transport hubs, although these are often slower than the train because of traffic jams. Taxi service is also available, although it is usually prohibitively expensive for single travelers because of the great distance from the airport to the city.
See also: Transportation of Japan