Air New Zealand to fly to a second Tokyo airport

Toshogu Shrine at Ueno Park, Tokyo. Air NZ is flying to a second airport in the city. Photo / 123RF

Air New Zealand will split its Tokyo services between Haneda and Narita Airports from July next year, offering customers two points of entry into Japan's capital city.

The airline currently operates daily flights to Narita International Airport increasing to 10 times a week over the peak months. From next July the three additional peak services will operate to Haneda Airport, with daily services continuing to Narita.

Haneda is about to undergo a major renovation to prepare for the surge in flights expected for the 2020 Summer Olympics. It is located in Ota, 14km south of Tokyo Station, the heart of Tokyo's transport system, less than a third the distance from Narita.

The Haneda services will depart from Auckland on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays using the airline's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Air New Zealand also operates a seasonal service between Auckland and the Japanese city of Osaka.

The airline's chief revenue officer, Cam Wallace, said the direct Auckland-Haneda Tokyo route would offer more choice for customers travelling to and from Japan.

"The new service will be convenient for Kiwis wanting to get to downtown Tokyo and for Japanese tourists looking to visit New Zealand. The mid-afternoon departure from Auckland will enable good connections from regional New Zealand and a similar mid-afternoon arrival time for the inbound flight means tourists will be able to make seamless domestic connections to the rest of New Zealand.''

He said the airline looked forward to building on existing services to Japan as tourism continues to grow in both directions, particularly in the coming years with events such as the 2019 Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Summer Olympics."

Japan is New Zealand's fifth largest tourism market with visitor numbers to New Zealand from Japan up 13.8 percent to 97,312 for the year ending October 2016. The number of New Zealanders travelling to Japan also grew in that period - up 15 per cent to 32,920 for the year to the end of October.