Virgin Atlantic has revealed that flights between Heathrow and Japan will use Tokyo’s Haneda from the spring of 2014 instead of the current Narita airport.
Haneda, which is the city’s original airport and one used primarily by domestic flights, is located about 19 kilometres from central Tokyo and is the final stop of the Tokyo Monorail system. It is generally considered more convenient for visiting the city than Narita airport, which is located about 66 kilometres from central Tokyo.
Virgin Atlantic's chief executive Steve Ridgway said: “2014 is a key year in Virgin Atlantic's history. It marks our 25th anniversary of successfully operating flights to Japan and will see us deploying one of our first brand new Boeing 787 aircraft on the route.
"We have definitely seen the market recover post last year’s tragic earthquake with an additional 23% capacity and passenger numbers up by 77%. We look forward to enhancing that further as we move into Haneda Airport.”
Virgin's bitter rival British Airways launched flights to Haneda airport in September 2010.
Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced in January that it has reached an agreement with the UK to increase the number of landing slots at both Haneda and Narita airports.
virgin-atlantic.com