THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
March 30, 2020 at 17:55 JST
Passengers were few and far between at the new facility for international flights at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport as it opened for business on the morning of March 29.
Slews of flights have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, creating an eerily quiet atmosphere at the airport.
Planned celebrations for the opening were called off.
Tokyo International Air Terminal Corp., operator of the airport building, scrapped its opening ceremony scheduled for the day.
Despite Japan's postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics last week, Haneda is sticking to its plan to raise the number of international flights by about 40 percent following the start of its summer schedule on March 29.
The transport ministry has viewed the bump in the new slots as an impetus to accelerate the internationalization of the airport, which is convenient for passengers as it is located near central Tokyo.
The new facility was added to Terminal 2, which had been used only by domestic flights, to coincide with the introduction of the new slots.
A total of 62 billion yen ($578 million) was spent to construct the new building, which has five levels above ground and one underground.
Previously, passengers who wanted to transfer from a domestic flight to an international one or vice versa had to take a shuttle bus between Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, formerly known as the International Terminal.
The new facility enables passengers of some flights to transit to others without taking a bus.
A 42-year-old company employee who lives in Hamamatsu boarded a flight to Jakarta in the morning because his transfer to the area had already been set before the spread of the virus.
“I’m trying not to panic since the situation changes daily,” he said.
Scores of airlines have been forced to significantly reduce flights because of the coronavirus pandemic.
(This article was written by Keiko Nannichi and Miho Tanaka.)
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