Tokyo airport opens new international terminal

After Narita International Airport opened in 1978, Tokyo's Haneda Airport (officially Tokyo International Airport) was used predominantly for domestic flights within Japan and for some charter flights within Asia.

But this past October, Haneda Airport officials christened a new runway and cut the ribbon on a swanky new International Terminal filled with shiny arrival and departures halls, gleaming gate areas and dozens of intriguing restaurants and shops.

A robust schedule of international flights to North America, Europe and Asia began rolling out in late October as well. Now travelers can fly to Haneda from Detroit, Honolulu, New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Seoul, Singapore and a steadily increasing number of cities on a variety of major airlines.

This week, for example, American Airlines, which already has regular service to and from Narita, is adding a daily flight to Haneda from New York's JFK airport.

Flying to Tokyo is one thing. Getting from the airport to the city is another. A frustration of arriving at Narita has always been the hour (or more) it can take to get into town. Haneda Airport is much closer to Tokyo's center and, with a sleek new monorail and train connections, passengers can now arrive downtown within 30 minutes.

Source: USA Today