A new commercial complex at Japan’s Haneda Airport, dubbed “Haneda Airport Garden”, is set to open in spring 2020.
The project, co-developed by local real estate company Sumitomo Reality and Development (Sumitomo) and Haneda Airport Development, will comprise two airport hotels, 2,400 sqm of events and meeting space, a hot spring facility, a shopping mall with approximately 90 stores, as well as a bus terminal.
This mixed-use facility will be directly connected to the International Terminal of the airport, and will only be around a one-minute walk from both the Haneda Airport International Terminal Station on The Keikyu Line and the Tokyo Monorail’s Haneda Airport International Building Station.
Airport hotels
The Villa Fontaine Premier Haneda Airport, which Sumitomo bills as its “original luxury brand”, will feature 160 guestrooms, all of which will come with a shower booth and views of the Tamagawa River.
The other 1,557-room Villa Fontaine Grand Haneda Airport, which the company describes as a “high-grade hotel”, will feature special room types such as Japanese tatami rooms and dedicated guestrooms for women.
Hot spring facility
Perched on top of the Villa Fontaine Premier Haneda Airport Hotel, Izumi Tenkuno Yu Haneda Airport will be a 2,000-sqm natural hot spring area overlooking both the runways at Haneda Airport and the iconic Mount Fuji.
The hot spring facility will feature an open-air bath, four types of indoor baths, three types of ganbanyoku (hot stone spa), as well as relaxation rooms and restaurants. Sumitomo said it will be Japan’s first natural hot spring directly connected to the airport. The facility will be open 24 hours, though the bath zone will be closed for cleaning between 2am to 5am.
Shopping and dining outlets
A shopping mall with around 60 shops and 30 restaurants will open its doors at the same time.
The shopping mall will feature various zones, including “Japan Promenade” for local Japanese products, “Haneda Sando” (think of Omotesando in Tokyo) for clothes and miscellaneous goods, “Haneda Collection” where there will be cosmetic products and accessories, as well as zones called “Drug Store” and “Large Convenience Store” for travellers who need to purchase medicine or necessities for their trips.
There will also be 30 restaurants inside the mall, ranging from a 290-seat restaurant to a food court, providing a total of around 1,600 seats. Some restaurants and stores will remain open until midnight.
Event and meeting space for MICE
The mixed-use complex will also have function and meeting rooms, which will include “Belle Salle Haneda Airport”, a 1,140-sqm event hall that will be able to accommodate around 700 guests; “Grand Foyer”, a 1,000-sqm, two-storey atrium space with a maximum ceiling height of 13 metres; as well as ten rooms for conferences and banquets.
Bus terminal
The Haneda Airport Garden Bus Terminal will offer 15 bus routes connecting Haneda Airport and other parts of Japan. There will be routes to major destinations in Tokyo such as Shinjuku and Shibuya, as well as other tourist destinations such as Hakuba and Kusatsu Onsen, and local cities including Tohoku, Kita Kanto, Chubu, Hokuriku and Kinki.
Service centre
There will also be the “Omotenashi Centre”, which will provide various services, including tourist information, tax refund, currency exchange, home delivery, luggage storage, as well as wheelchair and stroller rental service.
Haneda Airport is one of the two large airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area with the other being Narita International Airport. Haneda Airport is relatively closer to Tokyo’s city centre.
According to Japan National Tourism Organisation, more than 30 million international visitors travelled to Japan in 2018. The government is aiming to increase the number to 40 million by 2020. Sumitomo said the number of passengers is expected to further increase with the expansion of international flights from March 2020, and Haneda Airport will play an important role as an international airport hub, also as the “gateway of Japan”.
A number of local and international airlines have recently announced plans to fly to Haneda Airport, or shift part or all of their services from Narita Airport to Haneda Airport from 2020, including Japan Airlines, ANA, Qantas, Virgin Australia, Finnair, SAS, American Airlines, Delta and United.
