Tokyo Narita Airport

I have been through Tokyo Narita Terminal 1 and 2. I prefer Terminal 2, but my main airline operates at Terminal 1. Terminal 1 is dull and lifeless in the arrival area and natural daylight is poor. Departures in both terminals are actually very bright, colourful and full of life. Otherwise, staff are polite, smiling and answering questions within seconds - an exceptional way to demonstrate Japanese hospitality.

Always enjoy flying at Narita. It certainly is not the most modern or 'plush' airports but it does have a nice feel to it. It always seems so quiet when I'm passing through at any time of the day so I never feel stressed or rushed here. The passport control and customs queues are never too long and always fast moving. When it comes to shopping and eating there is lots of choice and the airport is dominated by Japanese souvenir shops (which in this case I adore), a variety of eateries ranging from Japanese to McDonalds, Duty Free, Electronics and a few bookshops. Lots of moving walkways aid you in getting around the international terminal. All in all I like spending time at Narita.

First of all, let me note that there are two main terminals at this airport - Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. In the past, I have almost exclusively taken Terminal 1. Although I have used Terminal 2 on occasion, I much prefer Terminal 1. This review is about Terminal 1. The check-in process has been relatively quick for me in Terminal 1, regardless of which airline I am taking, and going through the security line is relatively painless. The longest lines I have encountered are usually at Immigration, but even then the waits are usually less than 5 minutes. Once past immigration, I can easily relax until my flight departs. There is free Wi-Fi service available, although it seems to be limited to certain parts of the secure area. The airport staff are all top-notch professionals, and are very courteous. Food and beverages are around the same price they are outside of the airport. The longest I have waited at the baggage carousel was about 15 minutes. And there is excellent ground transportation not only to central Tokyo, but to other places like Tsukuba.

Narita was a new airport when I first used it, at a time when there was additional security due to local resident protests. It was far and inconvenient compared with Haneda, yet at that time modern and one of the world's most impressive. After so many years it is now over-shadowed by newer airports and is now just adequate. But it is human factors that I consider it one of the unwelcome arrival airports of the world. There is always a long queue whether at immigration or at customs. This is because of Jpanese bureaucracy doing a lot of unnecessary things that other airports do not do. For example many arriving passengers are subject to random searches by custom officers, and often they find nothing except annoyance to passengers, while most modern airports run more swiftly. There are various means of transporation into town and if you are not clever you may end up paying more for the same service (for example foreigners can use the JR Express train at a discount showing passport, only one way). The Japanese generally still do not speak English. I now consider an arrival at Narita a overall nuisance and I opt for the renovated Haneda if possible.

I arrived at Terminal 3 (Jetstar) and departed from Terminal 2 (Air Niugini). Both were mostly efficient but felt like LCC terminals. On arrival, the airport was a bit pokey but immigration went smoothly (make sure you've completed both arrival card and customs card). From Terminal 3, you have to walk about 700 metres along a covered outdoor walkway to Terminal 2 - be ready for the weather. There are facilities (ATMs, forex, shops) at Terminal 2 arrivals along with the train station (it's easy to buy tickets from the machines but English-speaking staff are there to assist). On departure from Terminal 2, despite the large check-in area, several airlines had very long queues extending to the doors. I got through quickly (arrived 2 hours before an undersold Air Niugini flight) so I don't know how much of this was due to the particular airlines. After check-in, there are escalators up to an eating and shopping area and only a small poorly-marked entry to emigration and security (no gate checks later on which is good). With the fast emigration and security, it might be worth checking out the landside shops as the airside area may be more limited - the airside bar was closing up at 8pm, there was only one duty free liquor shop and the only chocolate shop had a queue of 40 people. The free wifi is easy to use but slows down occasionally. The airport is mostly painless due to Japanese efficiency but I'm assuming that this is the cheap knockoff version of Haneda and it's certainly not a world-class airport.

After a tiresome day at work, it is so relaxing to come home seeing your house clean and neat. This is true also with travelling. No matter how long or how short the trip is, it is always stressful and tiresome thus it is so important that the destination airport is as welcoming as your own house once deplaned – and that is exactly what Narita Airport is. Not just the physical structure that I am talking here but also the polite, courteous and friendly staff in this airport. Narita, is indeed continuing to evolve from already impressive and beautiful airport into a better one.

Narita terminals one and two are excellent and offer an efficient and pleasant experience as one comes to expect in Japan. Terminal 3 however is a bit out of place being a tin shed building operated by Jetstar. Serviced by two train companies it is easy to get to even if it is located a long way to the north. I use the Skyliner train for it's speed and cheaper price but if coming from Yokohama the NEX service by JR means less changing trains. Terminals one and two are the originals and are very spacious layout with many shops and places to eat. The food is not overpriced and the quality is very good. A few places to sit with screens and vending machines and modern clean toilets. You can send your suitcase on in advance a couple days before via courier and then collect it at these two terminals for very reasonable price which I always do. Terminal 3 is new low cost carrier tin shed building used by Jetstar airways. It currently has a couple of shops and a few food outlets. If there is not too many people it is enough for short wait. It feels at odds with the rest of Nariata but is in the style of Jetstar I guess. It reminds me of the old Kuala Lumper LCC terminal before KLIA2 was built. It is located about 12 minutes walk from terminal 2. You have just the one x-ray scan not multiple as some airports seem to love doing. However terminal 3 has only a couple of machines and can have a big queue. I was delayed a full 30 minutes there last time in huge slow moving queue where as normally just a few minutes at terminal 1 and 2 with multiple machines. I have always found immigration quick at Narita being well staffed unlike many airports. There is the usual duty free shops airside but not so much in the way of food so best to eat land side. I have always found things go smoothly at Narita terminals one and two but terminal 3 knocks the score over all down a bit.

In my experience Tokyo Narita is one of worst airports for connecting because usually there is only 1 security check line for hundreds of people transiting in this airport. I usually have to spend 1 hour waiting. The staff working at security cannot speak English. Only 1 line is available, 5 non-English speaking staff, 2 of them check boarding passes and passport. Not sure why this place requires double check of the boarding pass and the passport and not by bar code scanning even though the waiting line is mile-long.

Spotlessly clean and a calm ambience throughout with none of the wasteful double-back routing and upstairs and then downstairs so favoured by some airports. No queues at immigration, plenty of lanes open and luggage was on belt as entered baggage area. Narita just works. It is a long way into the city but transfers are pretty painless. Compare it to LGW and STN and weep.

It's not the most convenient of the two Tokyo airports in terms of transport times from the city centre but the connections are very fast, regular, convenient and affordable. I have travelled through this airport many times over the years and have noted that it always seems to be clean and free of any unnecessary clutter. The food options available on the departure side are improving in recent years to include more choices and these also appear to compare favorably with non airport restaurant prices. I've never encountered anything more than the shortest of queues at immigration or security and my luggage took minutes to come through at baggage claim. No real wow factors that a lot of modern travellers seem to look for but in terms of functionality and user friendliness I enjoy using this airport and would recommend it to others.