NRT connection time from Terminal 2 to 1?
 

I have an upcoming trip where I have to make a tight connection at NRT.

I am arriving in Terminal 2 (American Airlines) and departing out of Terminal 1 (Korean Air). Is 1:45 enough time? Do you have to go through immigration and customs if I am not staying in Japan and just transiting through the airport? I will be one of the first passengers off the plane on the AA flight and I will not have any checked luggage if that makes a difference.

I would have preferred to connect to JAL in Terminal 2, but there was no award availability and their regular ticket price was twice that of KE's.

A shuttle bus runs between the terminals in 10 minutes, so that part is easy. (removed out of date information)

No. OP does NOT have to go through immigration.

There's a shuttle bus for connecting passengers within airside. For more information, you can visit: http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/guid...ter/index.html

You should contact your airlines so they are aware of your situation. The airside shuttle bus is not that frequent

It seems like you are saying I have to clear immigration even though I am a transiting passenger. Do I clear immigration at Terminal 2 and then take a shuttle bus to Terminal 1?

Addendum: According to JALPak, I may not need to go through immmigration which would save time, but then I will have to find out how frequent the airside shuttle buses run.

After taking a shuttle bus to Terminal 1, I suppose I will need to find a ticketing desk for KE since I won't have a KE boarding ticket.

Also make sure your luggages are interlined and checked all the way to Korean. Otherwise you would have to pick up the luggages at T2, go through immigration and custom and recheck the bags at T1.

Thanks for the tips, JALPak. I usually only travel with carry-ons, so I should OK. Hopefully there won't be any flight delays and I will make the connection without any problems.

Are there clear signs at the airport for the airside shuttle bus from Term 2 to 1 near gate 60 and/or 80? Also do most airport employees speak enough English to answer simple questions regarding directions within the airport?

Hopefully I will get a chance to check out the JAL F lounge and the AAdmirals Club lounge on my return trip. I wonder if the CX and QF lounges are worth checking out at NRT.

They should be able to communicate in simple English. Just to be safe, you can always print out the Japanese and English version of the airport page and show them the Japanese version :)

For OW lounges, there are 2 threads you might want to check it out

JAL Forum: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/jal-m...ge-narita.html
AA Forum: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...es-w-pics.html

Hmm, last time I had to do an inter-terminal transfer (albeit several years ago) I was told that I had to go through immigration first, so this service is good news!

I don't know much about OW lounges, but...
1) Can the OP access OW lounges if he's flying from NRT with KE?
2) Wouldn't it be "safer" to get the first bus to T1 and drop by a lounge there?
3) Perhaps the OP should try a KE or DL lounge at T1?

EDIT: OP wanted advice for the return leg, so this doesn't apply.

I believe they have been running this service for a while but I could be wrong. Did you contact your airlines in advance?

OP said on his way back. So he's taking AA flight

AAh. So he did.

Thanks for all the information.

I wish I could have lounge access when connecting from an AA to a KE flight in NRT, but since I do not have status on SkyTeam and I have a short connection time, while having to transfer from Terminal 2 to 1, I will have to forgo lounge access, though a shower would be nice after a long TPAC flight.

However on my flight back home, I will have a 4 hour layover, which should be plenty of time to transfer to Term 1 to 2 and then visit the JAL First and/or AC lounges.

There are shower facilities for rent but you probably don't have enough time :p
http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/guid...svc_37.html#t1

Is this airside transfer still running? The URL provided by JALPak above isn't yielding any results anymore and all I find on the website now shows that external transfer after Immigration is required.