Having woken early, I decided that I might as well head to Haneda early and visit the viewing terrace, rather than hang around my miniature hotel room. 15 minutes after leaving the hotel I was at the airport.
The last time I flew out of HND I remember finding it very hard to find the Star Gold check in area. So this time I was on the look out for it, but still couldn’t find it. I gave up looking for it, and just headed to the nearest automatic bag drop. Unfortunately as my bag was over 23kg, the machines refused to tag it. An assistant came over and started to say how I’d have to take some things out, before I said I was Star gold and could take above 23kg. She said I’d have to go to the desks, and pointed to a nondescript doorway with a * tiny * Star Gold sign next to it. Lol, why do they make this area so hard to find?!
When I walked over, there was a big queue inside, but then it became clear that this was for premium security, and the check in desks were actually hidden around the corner. My bag was finally tagged, and I could head up to the viewing terrace. Honestly, it’s such an awful layout in there, I don’t know how it got off the planning stage.
Haneda, like many Japanese airports is blessed with an excellent viewing terrace. Partially outdoor, you get excellent views of the planes.
As this was the ANA terminal, obviously ANA dominated the ramp.
After half an hour plane spotting, I headed back to the warmth of the terminal, and back to the Star Gold area to head through security. You get spat out right in front of the entrance to the lounge, which is very handy. Domestic Japanese lounges are nothing to get exciting about. There’s no proper food, just packaged snack mixes, juice, sodas, tea, coffee. There’s a choice of Japanese lagers served from the beer machines, and whisky. Definitely not worth arriving early for, but not an unpleasant place to wait either.
Having not had breakfast, I wanted something more than snack mix, so after a while headed into the terminal to look for something more substantial. The majority of eateries are landside, but there’s a few options airside. I found a little noodle bar that served up some tasty tempura soba.
Robots taking over
Bang on time, priority boarding started
You don’t have the opportunity to fly the 767 much in Europe nowadays. This is Premium Class
2x3x2 seating is great
What a beautiful day to fly. The plane filled right up, I didn’t see an empty seat.
Up, up and away
We got treated to some stunning views over Tokyo on departure. The views all the way down were fabulous
Mount Fuji
The Japanese Alps
Onboard catering is pretty limited, just a few drinks are on offer. There was free wifi however, which was a nice perk. You need the ANA app to access it.
Over Fukuoka
Approach to Nagasaki
Oriental Air Bridge operates these to a few islands in the vicinity
Hello Nagasaki
ANA was a no nonsense option down to Nagasaki. Not very exciting, but no real complaints either, other than the messy premium check in experience in HND.