JAPAN REPORT: TIAT/JATCO


Big disappointment for TIAT as newly constructed T2 Annex closes due to Covid


Downtown Tokyo’s Haneda Airport reached a construction milestone in March this year when it opened the TIAT T2 Annex – on schedule – as part of its $990 million expansion programme. However, it was only operational for a short window before closing as a result of the coronavirus (Covid-19). A few months on, David Hayes reports on the status of the airport’s commercial units.


H


aneda Airport’s Tokyo International Air Terminal Corporation (TIAT) recently


completed a major expansion of its international terminal that is designed to handle a projected 50% increase in flights and passengers in the next decade. However, this projection was calculated before the global coronavirus pandemic. The expanded terminal, which


opened on 29 March this year, forms part of TIAT’s JPY 104 billion/$990m scheme. This also includes the new TIAT T2 Annex, the completion of which was meant to coincide with the release of extra international flight slots (by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism), in time to serve foreign visitors attending the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In unfortunate timing, the T2


Annex opened just prior to the start of Japan’s Covid-19 lockdown in early April. The Tokyo 2020 games was subsequently postponed to 2021. TIAT main terminal, renamed


as Haneda Terminal 3 (T3) on 14 March this year, had already been expanded in two earlier expansion phases, with the construction of two additional flight gates completed in December 2019 to increase the terminal’s overall aircraft and passenger handling capacity.


Virtual Boutique shopping Expanding the main terminal and constructing the TIAT T2 Annex has increased TIAT’s total capacity to 27 million arriving and departing passengers a year, up from 18 million previously. Completing the expansion


programme on time was a priority for TIAT, as it had already been operating at full capacity since 2018.


OCTOBER 2020


International departures facilities


are now arranged over two floor levels. Departure check-in counters, passport control, security screening and duty free shopping are on Level 3, while flight gates, other shops and restaurants are located on lower Level 2. The commercial units include a


1,500sq m walkthrough departure duty free area and a 90sq m arrival duty free shop. After passing through passport


control, all departing passengers walk through the duty free store to the departure escalators that take them down to flight gates on Level 2, where the operator plans to have a tax free drug store, a tax free electronics shop and restaurants. TIAT’s T2 Annex is not able


to accommodate luxury brand boutiques because of the limited space available, so in order to provide these passengers with almost the same range of brands and goods as


departing passengers shopping in TIAT’s main terminal boutiques, the company has launched its Haneda Virtual Boutique shopping service. The first virtual boutique in Japan’s


duty free market is said to ‘fuse real and digital environments’, enabling international passengers to pre- order many of the same branded goods that are sold in TIAT’s main terminal luxury boutiques. Although currently open, TIAT’s


expanded main terminal and new TIAT T2 Annex facilities are not in operation at present as the number of international passengers is so low. TRBusiness understands that the


terminal facilities will re-open once international air travel at Haneda


In unfortunate timing, the T2 Annex opened just prior to the start of Japan’s Covid-19 lockdown in early April.


TRBusiness TRBUSINESS 37


Above: Sales at TIAT’s duty free and tax free shops and boutiques showed a slight improvement during the first three quarters of FY2019 (ending 31 March 2020), according to JATCO’s annual report.


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