Originally Posted by
joejones
LAX-NRT-HKG (transiting in Japan): Passenger deplanes from their LAX-NRT flight through the segregated international arrivals corridor (i.e. the other side of the glass partition from the terminal). At some point before immigration and customs, there is another corridor marked "International Connections." Passenger goes down this corridor to a security checkpoint, gets screened, and walks out into the international departures area to catch their next flight. They have not legally entered Japan, so they do not go through customs or immigration, and their bags are checked straight through to their NRT-HKG flight.
JAL has "international" flights from Osaka and Nagoya to NRT for this reason: passengers clear exit control at their origin and the flight arrives at NRT as an international arrival so that passengers can use the transit channel rather than getting the run-around through international departures at NRT.
Interesting. Pretty much like international connections in Brazil. Also, there are domestic segments operated by foreign carriers in Brazil and only transit passengers can board these flights. For instance, we have AA 951 (JFK-GRU-GIG), which can be a good connection option for passengers coming from DFW on flight AA 963 and going to Rio de Janeiro (GIG). Passengers who make this connection clear immigration and customs in GIG and they only have to clear security in GRU.
By the way, how is the gate arrangement in Japan? Do they always have the sterile glass corridors between gates and jetways, like those pictures from Brazil or they have a level dedicated to immigration, like the USA? And for domestic flights and connections? Is it more like the picture of MSP (i.e. no sterile corridor)?