Narita airport to hike user fees for passengers from September

I was flying on business back from LA with a colleague once and the flight to Haneda was full, so we had to take the Narita arrival.

Now I live one stop from Nippori and I had no check baggage, with the fast track immigration and lucky timing on the Skyliner, I went from the Boarding Bridge to my front door in 57 minutes (I couldn’t believe it myself except that I timed it just to see).

My colleague on the other hand….

He lived a bit west of Yokohama. He got to change busses twice. I think it took him a bit longer than 3 hours (he didn’t have any luggage either and he was in the Japanese passport line) to get home.

I never had the heart to tell him.

But that shows how inconvenient Narita is for Passengers in Central-West Tokyo.

BTW, JR is currently working in a direct Tokyo to Haneda link. When it’s done, Haneda will be even more convenient.

Narita is now recognized as one of the world’s top airports. In fact, it’s been in the top-10 for five consecutive years.

This just goes to show you how shockingly bad the world's airports are; imagine the state of the ones ranked below Narita!

The worst thing about Narita is if you’re using it for a connection flight at Haneda. Often the shuttle buses between the two are running extremely late, which means you have to think fast and grab a pricey cab to get where your going on time. If your departure point or destination is Narita, then you’re in better shape. As a connection with Haneda, Narita sux.

If your travel agent tells you there’s just a simple connection at Haneda you need to make after landing at Narita, think carefully before agreeing, especially if it’s a busy season or day of the week.

Can’t stand Narita! One of the world’s worst airports."

Said no serious seasoned traveller ever.

No biggie. Hope more people use Haneda to free up space for me at NRT.

Try to use BCIA, then let's talk again.

I have never been there. Please share what is so bad about it. I would like to know.

My personal worst transit airport was Gimpo back in the early 90s.

Now THAT was a horrible layover. It's not possible to die of boredom. One only wishes that it were.

My own opinion is that Singapore is the transit airport that all others pretend to aspire to without ever really hoping to achieve. From Immigration to check-in to shopping is all absolutely top of class and the only airport I have ever used that could compare with Haneda for cleanliness.

Maybe charge people for using the bathroom?

What do you think is included in a “passenger service facility charge to cover costs for maintaining and operating facilities”?

Perhaps maintaining plentiful clean bathrooms.

I also love being able to get a 500 ml bottle of water for about 120 yen.

Good way to make Haneda more attractive for both passengers and airlines, lol... Though Haneda T3 is WAY overcrowded now and still growing.

Narita airport to hike user fees for passengers from September

Why not add costs for passengers to breathe the air in the airport as well?

Maybe charge a tax on paying taxes?

How about charging extra fees for booking tickets early?

As well as booking tickets late?

Maybe charge people for using the bathroom?

Better yet, charge people to check the arrivals and departures boards?

Hell, there should be a charge for anyone to even mention the name "Narita" in public.

ridiculous

If you live in Kanagawa like I do, Narita is hugely inconvenient. It costs a small fortune and lots of time to get there. I do my best to avoid flying in and out and this just makes it that much worse.

I swear the fees are like half the ticket price now.

Seems Narita should focus more on cargo, while Haneda more on passengers!

Raising user fees for passengers and then providing crappy service…one of the few things Narita excels at.

Haven't used Narita in almost 10 years. Not since international flights between Haneda and Heathrow became a possibility.

Being based within central Tokyo means getting to/from Haneda is a lot more convenient for myself.

@JeffLee

Geez! That’s a whole lot of bitchin’ about the previous century. Welcome to a new generation!

Narita is now recognized as one of the world’s top airports. In fact, it’s been in the top-10 for five consecutive years.

World’s Top 20 Airports for 2023

Singapore Changi Airport 

Hamad International Airport 

Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) 

Incheon International Airport 

Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport 

Istanbul Airport 

Munich Airport 

Zurich Airport 

9. Narita International Airport 

Madrid-Barajas Airport

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/skytrax-worlds-best-airports-2023/index.html

Can’t stand Narita! One of the world’s worst airports.

Then don’t fly. Problem solved. Nobody’s making you.

DONE,boat ordered already.

/irony off/

So you are so, unenamored with a 350 yen fee and so wealthy that you not only can, but will leave Japan on a boat?

Yeah, nobody is buying that and I mean NOBODY.

(That is not what "irony" means btw...)

And if, IF you are as wealthy as you claim to be, why are you constantly moaning about prices?

Right for everyone claiming this is crazy and HND is so much better NRT, don't be fooled for one minute that as soon as NRT starts posting itts prodfits that HND isn't going to do the same and raise its rates making the same claim. What's good for the goose is going to be good for the gander. Expect other airports to slowly do the same. :(

EFDToday 10:34 am JST

its just a greed.but yes LDP will "urge" you to travel home...and pay all extras for tickets as well.so airlines may make fat profit out of you...

Then don’t fly. Problem solved. Nobody’s making you.

DONE,boat ordered already.

/irony off/

Greedflation Imean. I wish we could edit these things!

More greedation.

its just a greed.but yes LDP will "urge" you to travel home...and pay all extras for tickets as well.so airlines may make fat profit out of you...

Then don’t fly. Problem solved. Nobody’s making you.

Another tax, Narita not only losing market share to Haneda but given very difficult global backdrop, pandemic re-opening far below expectations.

Seems likely their operating at a continued deficit...

There used to be a vending machine right before departures where passengers had to buy a 2,000 or 3,000 yen ticket. I had never seen such a thing and had heard that Narita was the world's only airport to pull such a stunt. In subsequent years other airports starting charging passengers, seemingly after the getting the idea from NRT.

Ironically, at the time, Narita was a horrendous airport. One runway to serve the entire Tokyo international traffic. It would take flights about 40 minutes of taxiing and waiting to take off. I remember sitting on the floor with many others in the only terminal because of lack of seating. We would spread our newspapers on the ground. Only food was cafeteria style ramen and curry rice. No Narita Express, and the SkyLiner was usually booked out and left once an hour. And we actually had to pay extra to use this nightmare!

its just a greed.but yes LDP will "urge" you to travel home...and pay all extras for tickets as well.so airlines may make fat profit out of you...

Haneda is SO much more convenient for Tokyo area residents from Central-West Tokyo (and no less convenient for us on the East side) AND cheaper to get to.

In addition, anyone connecting domestically has a lot more choice of times and much more convenient connection logistics (about to get easier with current construction underway).

It’s no wonder that every airline, foreign and domestic who can switch to HND has done so.

NRT is not bankrupt by virtue of an influx of LCC’s and transit passengers between Asia Pacific and North America. I have not flown via Inchon, but I hear it puts Narita in the shade from a passenger experience perspective.

One more reason to not come to Japan, it’s just another rip off, more to come.

Oh, it’s still 30% cheaper to travel to Thailand.

¥330 yen increase is only the beginning. This just gets you all use to the price increases. You don't think ¥330 yen increase is the end of the increases, do you?

This is so minimal, and it supports the one big important change Japan needs. Higher wages and less overtime. I'm all for each individual flying needing to spend an extra 300~ yen on an already expensive day out.

If you want to complain, stop eating eggs and start eating more tofu.

330 yen increase is peanuts compared to the current ticket prices and also not too bad compared to the level of passenger levies at many other countries airports. Good points about the bs excuse of higher labour costs causing this though.

Twenty years or so ago, you used to have to pay ¥2,000 airport tax at Narita, then it was removed.

Now it is back again.

While this is about 10 or 12% more than comparable fees in major U.S. airports (what isn’t 10-12% more expensive in Japan?), the new, highest rate at NRT is about 35% LESS than that at London Heathrow (approximately ¥3,800). And LHR subjects the passenger to an even worse experience than NRT — and the express train into town (a shorter distance) is even more expensive from LHR!

What labor cost hikes? My salary hasn't gone up and neither has anyone else's that I know.

Same here. Although I'm told that I get a small % salary increase every year that I work for my company. If I work there long enough, it might be all worth it.

Regarding the user fee increase at Narita, was it decreased during the pandemic when hardly anyone was travelling? I don't think so. As others have noted, companies in Japan (and other countries) are increasing costs and using inflation as their excuse, but not passing it down to employees.

All these ™surcharges,™ fuel charges, airport charges are a total ripoff. And airports and airlines are getting bolder and bolder slapping them on to people.

Lol…they can do whatever they like. We have Haneda, no need to ever go out to Narita again.

I don’t see salaries increasing that much for the workers there. It just seems like a needless price increase to increase a few peoples pockets.

I rather pay a higher price and chill at Haneda.

Narita, driving or taking a train there is so, mendokusai.

 reflecting recent price and labor cost hikes,

What labor cost hikes? My salary hasn't gone up and neither has anyone else's that I know.

I am happy that the Narita Airport will take additional money from my wallet for free.

Flyfigital that system hasn’t been used in years.

The three Japanese words that come to mind re Narita airport: 遠い。高い。不便。（Toi, takai, fuben -- far away, expensive, inconvenient.)

Passengers using the Narita airport nearly tripled to 15.41 million in 2022 from 2021, with those using international flights rising 4.8-fold to 9.03 million, according to the operator.

And watch in a year or so the AP operator reporting record profits! This surge in passengers was 100% expected, and these corporations are taking full advantage of it by jacking prices across the board, under the cover of any number of excuses.

Oh where are the wage hikes that increased the "labor costs"?

Not sure if they have modernised this nonsense yet.

They did — a generation ago.

Fly,

That archaic system is long gone. I had forgotten it until you politely reminded me of it.

Although by Skyliner and lucky accident, I live more or less equidistant based on time, I vastly prefer Haneda for passenger experience. Any increases in fees should be used to make Narita a competitive passenger experience airport again (if it ever was).

flydigitalToday  07:10 am JST

I used Narita a long time ago and was amazed you had to pay up on departure rather than having it factored into your plane ticket fare. 

This has not been the case for a very long time. It is paid for by the airlines based on the amount of users and it is included in the ticket price.

And to those saying Narita is far away, for a lot of people it is more convenient than Haneda. Train to get to Haneda without rush hour haggling with commuters on the trains and monorail is a mess. If you have kids, it’s a nighmare.

I used Narita a long time ago and was amazed you had to pay up on departure rather than having it factored into your plane ticket fare. There was no warning in advance that there was this surprise fee. Not everyone has the money to hand and at the time it had to be cash. Not sure if they have modernised this nonsense yet.

Airport what it share when it comes price increase.

Another good reason to avoid Narita, though not as good as the fact it is miles from anywhere.