Tokyo International Airport commences operation of fourth runway and international terminal

Japan's Tokyo Haneda Airport (officially known as Tokyo International Airport) commenced operation of its 2,500m its fourth Runway D and a new international terminal on 21-Oct-2010 (The Yomiuri Shimbun/Kyodo News/Nikkei, 21-Oct-2010). Regular international services will resume on 31-Oct-2010. Haneda will be connected with 17 foreign cities by Feb-2011. Takeoff and landing slots on the new offshore runway, located at the south of the airport, will be gradually expanded by 1.5 times by fiscal 2013 (ending Mar-2014). The new runway will create an additional 110,000 landing slots a year, 60,000 of which will be used for international services. By 2013, the government aims to increase international slots to 90,000. Services to the US, Europe and certain Asian destinations will only operate between the hours of 10pm and 7am until at least 2013, due to a lack of capacity during the daytime to add international services.

Keikyu Co unveiled Haneda Airport International Terminal Station on its Airport Line linking the Kamata and Haneda Airport Domestic Terminal stations. It also launched new direct express trains from stations in Kanagawa Prefecture as part of its Airport Express service. Tokyo Monorail Co's Haneda Line, which links JR Hamamatsucho Station and Haneda Airport, unveiled a Haneda Airport International Terminal Station. From 21-Oct-2010, the company was to increase by approximately 10% the number of Haneda Express trains that travel nonstop from Hamamatsucho to Haneda Airport International Terminal stations.

European Business Council: "We're of course thrilled that Haneda will be used for international flights, but for European Union carriers, passengers land in the middle of the night in Europe," Bjorn Kongstad, policy director. Source: Nikkei, 21-Oct-2010.