What is going on at NRT?
 

I was passing through Narita yesterday and noticed that some things had apparently changed for the worse. For starters the airport was surprisingly smelly in at least one spot and generally louder than before. I'm talking about T1 here, not that poorly maintained hallway known as T2. Is T1 in the middle of some plumbing problems and has the noise-canceling system been disabled?

NRT's T1 used to be among the best terminals in the business but now they seem to be slacking a bit. In fact the smell was so bad in one place (Kaizosha 3F) that I actually lost my appetite and blew off my usual stopover meal (gyoza followed by a slice of crepe cake). I was also dismayed that the duty-free shop refused to sell me my liquor selection. I'm not sure what the real problem was, but one lady implied that it was due to the TSA rules. Not only did the TSA relax that silly liquids rule some time ago but this particular intra-Asia flight had nothing to do with the US anyway. Luckily I managed to find another store that had the same selection and didn't have any problem selling it to me. All in all I'm seeing previously polished NRT in a new, lesser light at this point. Hopefully this is just a one-off situation and they'll get their act together again. With top-notch gateways in Asia becoming more common and new longer-haul planes available NRT might end up losing even more ground in near future, regardless of slot restrictions and the like.

At least NRT still has their well-maintained shower rooms. I seriously wish every airport had those. Nothing is worse than arriving at a US gateway after some long haul flight only to find out that they have no place to wash up.

Was the flight on UA or NW? If so, then US rules applied.

Please continue to follow this thread in the FT Japan Forum.
Thanks...
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

In my opinion, NRT has always been a dump relative to its Asian gateway competitors (HKG, ICN, SIN). I don't think it has gotten any better or worse, still remains an inconvenient, depressing dump, not much worse, not much better. The addition of T2 and a 10-year remodeling exercise didn't really do much to improve things.

Of course, I'd take NRT over pretty much all of the US gateway airports. If you want the gold standard in inconvenient and depressing, those are your role models.

It´s still almost depressing to see how KIX as an alternative gateway to Japan was mishandled in most aspects. Of course, it could still be saved easily by adding a Shinkansen track and stations at the airport and either Shin-Osaka or another location. The cost would of course be immense but then there have been funnier ideas realized in Japan.

There seems to be a new anti-liquid crusade at NRT -- discussed in this thread:http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ht=nrt+liquids

NRT is slightly less dumpy than before. There's the problem that it's in the middle of nowhere in Chiba. I don't ever think it was as dumpy as the old BKK or HKG (but obviously never as convenient). KIX isn't that bad overall (unlike NRT operators and rice farmers). And I think it's a lot better for someone living in Osaka than NRT is for someone in Tokyo. Most airports seem mismanaged (I've always liked how Chicago has managed ORD and MDW) though, with organizations that can't get their act together.

What do the US rules say about inter-Asian flights and why would they be even more restrictive than US-Asian flights? That simply doesn't make any sense to me.

The new terminal is actually called Terminal One and it's vastly superior to Terminal Two in my view. However, it's certainly gotten worse of late, at least according to my ears and nose.

KIX has all the makings of a bottomless money pit. Thus, even poorly maintained NRT makes more sense than expanding KIX in my view.

I think the US rules have implications for airports where some passengers are allowed to carry liquids into the landside area. (So in the case of Narita, if they're allowing passengers on flights to some destinations to take a bottle of water which was purchased outside of the airport, then they have to do an extra security kabuki on the ramp for any flights to the US or on US airlines)

Actually I think Narita security checks are more relaxed than those at US airports - and so, ironically, they are required to do extra checks on US airlines.

Terminal Two is the newer of the two terminals. It currently has some building work going on to create some new duty free stores - I believe it will lose the feeling of a dreary hallway when that's completed. I used to prefer T2 to T1...

Rennovation of Terminal One was completed this year - with a brand new South Wing. That might create the impression that it's a new terminal.

It is? I must have my arrow of time reversed, because in my universe (and I believe also Smidgen's), T1 opened circa 1971 and T2 opened circa 1994. Do you think I can see a doctor about that?

If I'm wrong about the Terminals then please accept my apologies. To my eyes T1 has looked decades newer than T2 for years now and the difference is never more striking than seeing them back to back with one of those old school bus transfers. Seriously, NRT's T2 looks very old to my eyes. What's odd is that the NAA lists the grand opening of T1 as June 2nd, 2006 (Page 7 from the 2006 edition of the "Narita Airport Guidebook A to Z Terminal 1"). I guess they're talking about the recent musical chairs renovation work because we all know that T1 was up and running long before that.

Narita opened for operations in 1978, delayed for several years due to public protests (some which were violent) and political wrangling. I think the passenger terminal building (today's T1) was actually finished around 1974 but it stood idle due to the problems mentioned above.

T2 did open around the time you mentioned. T1 as noted was extensively renovated and expanded over the last few years, so it appears to be newer (expecially around the UA gate areas). I think the plan is to have the Star Alliance carriers congregate at T1 (I think NH moved there recently).

It's a marvel of modern engineering and beauty for those of us used to JFK or LGA.

The entire *A grouping(except ANZ) moved to the new T1 South terminal on 2/June/2006..........

The view from my seat in the NH F lounge in the new T1 South Wing right now is very nice. I went down and slummed a bit with the other gaijin and grabbed a McBurger for lunch though.

Of course dinner will be caviar and Krug...

I think the new South Wing is a fabulous place. Sometimes I even start to think that I can walk on water around here;)

Bon Voyage,

Scho