It's by far Japan's busiest airport and ranks just below LHR in the table of busiest airports. It handles mostly, though not exclusively, domestic traffic.
When the bulk of international services were moved to NRT, a handful remained at HND (GMP, SHA, TSA, etc.) but now that there are four runways, international services to/from HND are expanding, and limited flights to/from Europe and North America have recently restarted.
It's not hard to understand the continuing popularity of HND, it's dead convenient for Tokyo being just a short monorail ride away. Compare that to the trek all the way out to NRT.
I had tried searching ba.com midweek, and it looks like it doesn't operate T or W. Normally, I'd expect at least a daily rotation for a route like this - if dropping any days, I'd expect it to be Sa or Su. Odd to drop two consec days isn't it?
I totally agree about HND v NRT - and I think those stacked discs are pretty iconic too! It isn't just the monorail though - HND is way better for Yokohoma, or anywhere really in metro Tokyo + there's all the domestic links too.
We like to think the Japanese have an excellent rail network (which they do) - apart from high speed airport transfers. Shinkansen link to NRT got dropped, and as you say, it is way out in the boondooks compared to NRT. Surprise BA bother serving it at all, but I suppose JAL offer some connections from there.
The timings on the HND are not great. A VERY early departure in the morning from HND for example. It is more convenient than NRT but there are fast trains (albeit not Shinkansen) from the airport to Ueno, Tokyo main station, Shinjuku etc so it's not the nightmare it once was.
Correct me if this is wrong, but AFAIK the inconvenient timings at HND are to do with restrictions on slot pairs for (long haul) international flights. Tuesdays and wednesdays can be quiet days on some long haul flights. Surprised it's not daily though.
I'm sure that intercontinental airlines would move all operations from NRT to HND if there were no restrictions on operating hours. As it is I believe that intercontinental flights cannot operate between 0630 & 2230 local (happy to be corrected if wrong). The current BA schedule is:
LHR 0805 X23 HND 0455 X34
HND 0625 X34 LHR 1000 X34
This might work for First/Club the idea being that you arrive at 0455 after a night in your sleeper seat ready for a days work and after a long days work. I would certainly prefer NRT for a leisure trip. Yes its in the middle of nowhere but at least the times are civilised.
Airlines would generally prefer a night flight and JL operate a codeshare with AF to the following schedule:
HND 0130 CDG 0620
CDG 1100 HND 0655
BA could utilise the slot currently used by BA212 to give the following schedule:
LHR 0935 HND 0625
HND 0140 LHR 0515.
This would mean a plane on the ground for 19 hours although with 747s in the Nevada desert this might not be a problem - except that the 747 may be too large an aircraft.
Alternatively JL could operate the route and BA increase frequencies to NRT if they are given authority to codeshare.
BA cancelled the second NRT for a while and re-instated the service to Haneda as 5 per week. JAL now only operates a single NRT, so Japan is still well down over the period.
The timing of the Haneda longhaul "window" makes scheduling of flights from the UK particularly difficult.
BA currently operates close to the end of the window, but still departs from Heathrow too early for feeder connections from elsewhere. Departure from Haneda is also uncomfortably early, but not quite early enough to make it worth saving a night in a hotel. Moving to early in the window might make it more user-friendly at the Tokyo end, but would involve a night departure from London.
Peter47's idea of a plane on the ground at Haneda all day could ease the timing problems, but even retrieving a 747 from the desert might not make it economic.
Another alternative, which also has drawbacks, would be to introduce an intermediate stop in somewhere like Seoul. This would probably permit an evening departure from London, arriving at Inchon (Gimpo would be better for Korean domestic connections, but is probably not acceptable to the Korean authorities) in time for a late eveing departure to get in early in the Haneda window. Return might be possible early enough to save that night's hotel in Tokyo and still arrive back in Seoul late enough to avoid any night curfews.
Obvious disadvantages are that the flight to Tokyo would no longer be non-stop and picking up passengers for the Seoul-Tokyo and return legs might difficult both practically and legally. However such a routing would introduce a British presence onto a route where there is none. It would also increase One World presence in an area currently well-served by Sky Team and *Alliance, but only by Finnair from One World.
It would also increase One World presence in an area currently well-served by Sky Team and *Alliance, but only by Finnair from One World.
I think Cathay Pacific might raise an eyebrow about this - always plenty of pax on Europe to Hong Kong flights heading on there.
Tokyo has the issue seen elsewhere - a "new" airport so far from the urban area it purports to servce that no airline would use it unless forced. A generation or so later, the restrictions come off and carriers desert overnight, or as much as they are permitted, back to the old place.
Montreal was a classic for this (Mirabel now closed) and Prestwick the same for an example nearer home. Boris Island advocates please note.
I think Cathay Pacific might raise an eyebrow about this - always plenty of pax on Europe to Hong Kong flights heading on there.
I don't know how I forgot Cathay - I used them between Hong Kong and Seoul late last year. But there were only three of us off my BA flight and two of us plus a family of five transferring to BA on the way home. I know the numbers because both connections turned out to be much tighter than planned and we were escorted as a group from one flight to the next.
Hi all, I'm wondering does anybody know the days on which BA will fly the 77W to JFK this Summer? Everywhere I look says that it will operate BA179/182 x 4 weekly but no info about which four days it is :S
Hi all, I'm wondering does anybody know the days on which BA will fly the 77W to JFK this Summer? Everywhere I look says that it will operate BA179/182 x 4 weekly but no info about which four days it is :S
From what I gather the 77W operates the BA179/BA182 Daily except day 4, so not on Thursdays...
BR was British Caledonian Airways, formerly British United pre merger with Caledonian Airways (Prestwick). Brymon was BC, though both were bought by BA.
I know all of the above airline codes, just found it slightly amusing that BA think BR is Brymon thats all
Sure, especially as it's been EVA's IATA code since they started more than 20 years ago, in fact well before BA even bought up Brymon.
Incidentally, EVA is initals, pronounced separately (like TWA) and not as a word, although many seem to say it like "Ever". I never heard TWA called "Twar" though.
77W JFK days ?
