AIRPORT: NARITA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
COST: FREE AIRPORT VIEWING AREA OPENING TIMES: 6.30AM TO 10PMN
arita International Airport is Tokyo’s
main international gateway, so
receives a wide array of airlines.
At the time of going to press, the
latest gures showed that in 2016 the airport
handled, on average, 665 movements a day- around 68% of which were international
passenger ights and 68 were cargo
aircraft ights. The latest estimate is that
Narita handled slightly more than 39 million
passengers in the year.
Carriers dominating proceedings are
Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways
(ANA), while budget operators Jetstar (Japan)
and Vanilla Air are also based at Narita.
Meanwhile plenty of freighters are to be seen
from the likes of FedEx Express, UPS and
Polar Air Cargo.
The airport has three outdoor viewing
areas and another option at the Museum of
Aeronautcal Sciences. The observation deck
on top of Terminal 1 is good for photography
rst thing as the sun is behind you, but by
mid-morning it has moved enough to begin
to cause problems. A 70mm to 200mm
zoom lens is sufficient,
although a 35mm to
70mm can come in
handy when some of the
larger aircraft types taxi
close to the terminal. An
Airbus A320-size aircraft
on Runway 16R/34L
would need around a
250mm focal length.
Both the runways are
used simultaneously for
landings and take-offs.
In a considerate
move for photographers
the airport authority has
cut holes in the fencing, but panning can be
awkward for capturing arriving or departing
aircraft. The ANA terminal is nearby and
there are limited views of it from the far left
of this observation deck, where plenty of
the airline’s aircraft come within range of the
camera. Each of the terminal viewing areas
has telescopes which cost 100 Yen (about
70p) to use.Next to the Terminal 1 viewing area are
some reasonably priced food outlets and there
are shops on the oor below, including one for
the aviation-minded, plus a McDonald’s.
The two viewing decks at Terminal 2 can
be reached by a courtesy bus. Its observation62Viewing Area GuideViewing Area Guide
Terminal 1’s
observation
deck.Barry Ambrose describes the viewing areas at Tokyo’s main international hub.
Aviation News incorporating Jets March 2017TOKYO
cut holes in the fencing, but panning can beVIEWING
AREAVIEWING
AREAVIEWING
AREAMUSEUM OF
AERONAUTICAL
SCIENCESA chart of the airport with the four viewing
areas marked. Not for airborne/operational use,
NAVBLUE62-64_vg_tokyoDCMFDC.mfDC.mfDC.mf.indd 62 06/02/2017 16:11