British Airways is launching a new route from London Heathrow Airport to Tokyo’s near-downtown Haneda Airport in a push to open up the domestic Japanese market to UK travellers.
The five-times-weekly service between Heathrow and Haneda will begin on February 19, 2011. British Airways will operate its Heathrow-Haneda round-trips with Boeing 777-200ERs outfitted in four-class configuration, enabling customers to choose from First, Club World (business class), World Traveller Plus (premium economy) or World Traveller (economy).
Prices for round-trip travel will start from £718 (US$1,139) and the service will operate on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Between February 19 and March 26, the flight will depart from London Heathrow at 8:00 a.m. and arrive at Haneda at 5:00 a.m. local time the following day. From March 27, 2011 the flights will depart from London Heathrow approximately one hour later.
As well as offering an excellent domestic network within Japan, Haneda Airport (which is Japan’s busiest airport) is located near the business centre in Tokyo, ideal for premium-class customers.
The airline’s daily flight to Tokyo’s Narita airport will continue as before. British Airways says the route is performing well and operating from two airports in Tokyo provides customers with greater flexibility. Narita International Airport is located 38 miles from central Tokyo. The airport is linked to the city by the Narita Express which takes customers to central Tokyo Station in 60 minutes.
British Airways offers a selection of handpicked 3-to-5-star hotels in Tokyo. The 4-star Hotel Metropolitan Tokyo is located in one of the busiest commercial centres in the city and is known for its Japanese hospitality. Alternatively, customers can stay at the 3-star Mercure Hotel Ginza Tokyo in the heart of the shopping center, closely situated to Tokyo’s International Forum, or choose a high level of luxury in the 5-star InterContinental Tokyo Bay hotel.