The draw of Tokyo Haneda Airport continues to impact Narita International Airport as Lufthansa suspends its service for the winter.
Lufthansa Airbus A340-300 at Frankfurt Airport – Image, Economy Class and Beyond.
The three days a week between service has been pulled between 9th January 2016 through to 25th March 2017, with reservations currently pulled for the route.
But why?
For those of you who have never visited the Tokyo area before, a tiny bit of background.
For most people there are two major airports – Tokyo Haneda and Narita International Airport.
Tokyo Haneda is near the heart of the city in the Ōta Ward of Tokyo and about 9 miles to Tokyo Station as the crow flies. As such it is wonderfully convenient gateway to the city, and is well-connected with Monorail, Train and bus services.
Tokyo Haneda Arrivals – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
Meanwhile Tokyo Narita is in the Chiba prefecture, 43 miles away from Tokyo Station… and a long old schlep to get there (either by train or bus). Whilst the connections are good, you are looking at a good hour to get to the airport.
Narita International Airport Departures – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
So from a passenger experience perspective, Haneda is the go-to choice. It’s taken some years, but Tokyo Haneda has slowly opened itself up to international traffic, with more slots being released for daytime flights.
In the longer term, more airlines are looking at Haneda with hungry eyes and moving services over, whilst either maintaining a token service at Narita, or codesharing to maintain a presence.
For passengers, it’s a little annoying – whilst plenty of services to Haneda open up, it does mean that there are few services in total to the Tokyo area.
As usual, check your reservations to see if you’re re-routed, and plan accordingly.
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