Construction and local resistance Before Narita opened, Tokyo International Airport (also known as
Haneda Airport) was Tokyo's main international airport. Haneda, located in
Tokyo Bay, was surrounded by densely populated residential and industrial areas, and began to suffer capacity and noise issues in the early 1960s as jet aircraft became common. The
Japanese transport ministry commissioned a study of alternate airport locations in 1963, and in 1965 selected a plan to build a five-runway airport in the village of
Tomisato. The site was later moved northeast to the villages of
Sanrizuka and
Shibayama, where the
Imperial Household had a large farming estate. This development plan was made public in 1966. The government argued that one merit of the site was the relative ease of expropriation of land. However, residents were not consulted during the initial planning phase, and learned of the selection of the airport site through the news. This led to shock and anger among the local community, which continued for many years. Though the Japanese government had
eminent domain power by law, such power was rarely used due to a preference to resolve land disputes consensually. At the time, the
socialist movement still had considerable strength in Japan, evidenced by the large-scale student riots in Tokyo in 1960. Many in the "new left" such as
Chūkaku-ha opposed building Narita, reasoning that the real purpose for the new airport was to promote
capitalism and to provide additional facilities for US military aircraft in the event of war with the
Soviet Union. These individuals sought to ally with the more conservative local farmers who simply did not want to give up their land for the airport. About 1966, a group of residents combined with student activists and left-wing political parties formed a popular resistance group, the Sanrizuka-Shibayama Union to Oppose the Airport (三里塚芝山連合空港反対同盟） (; ), which remained active until fracturing in 1983 and they started protest activity called
Sanrizuka Struggle (; ).
Takenaka Corporation constructed the first terminal building, which was completed in 1972. The first runway took several more years due to constant fights with the Union and sympathizers, who occupied several pieces of land necessary to complete the runway and temporarily built large towers in the runway's path. The airport opened under a high level of security; the airfield was surrounded by opaque metal fencing and overlooked by guard towers staffed with riot police. 14,000 security police were at the airport's opening and were met by 6,000 protesters; a Japanese newscaster remarked at the time that "Narita resembles nothing so much as
Saigon Airport during the
Vietnam War." Protestors attacked police on the opening day with rocks and firebombs while police responded with
water cannons; on the other side of Tokyo, a separate group of protestors claimed responsibility for cutting the power supply to an
air traffic control facility at
Tokorozawa, which shut down most air traffic in the Tokyo area for several hours. Nevertheless, several people have been killed by terrorist acts, including in and in 1983 and 1990, respectively, as well as an in 1988. The conflicts at Narita were a major factor in the decision to build
Kansai International Airport in
Osaka offshore on reclaimed land, instead of again trying to expropriate land in heavily populated areas. Japan's international flag carrier,
Japan Airlines, moved its main international hub from Haneda to Narita, and
Northwest and
Pan American also moved their Asian regional hubs from Haneda to Narita. The two U.S. carriers operate fifth-freedom routes to various Asian countries under a bilateral agreement. Pan American transferred its Pacific Division, including its Narita hub, to
United Airlines in February 1986. Japanese domestic carrier All Nippon Airways began scheduled international flights from Narita to Guam in 1986.
Security From 1978 to 2015, Narita Airport was the only airport in Japan where visitors were required to show ID upon entry, due to the tumultuous history of the airport's construction and the violent protests before, during, and after its opening. By 2012, Narita's operator was considering dispensing with the security checks. Given that the number of flight slots at Narita are also increasing, the anti-airport struggles were decades in the past, and
Haneda Airport began to re-instate international flights, a council headed by Chiba governor
Kensaku Morita consisting of prefectural government officials, the Narita International Airport Corporation and business groups in Narita, proposed scrapping the ID checks. The Chiba prefectural police objected, stating that the checks were necessary to detect extremists and terrorists. NAA experimented with a new threat detection system for two months in 2013, using a combination of cameras, explosive detectors, dogs and other measures in lieu of passport and baggage checks upon entering the terminal. In March 2015, NAA announced that the ID checks would cease and the new system would be used for terminal building security, effective as of the end of that month. Narita Airport was the first Japanese airport to house
millimeter wave scanners. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced in March 2010 that trials would be carried out at Narita from 5 July through 10 September 2010. Five types of machines were to be tested sequentially outside the Terminal 1 South Wing security checkpoint; the subjects were Japanese nationals who volunteered for trial screening, as well as airport security staff during hours when the checkpoint is closed.
Privatization In 2003, a was passed to provide for the
privatization of the airport. As part of this change, on 1 April 2004, New Tokyo International Airport was officially renamed Narita International Airport, reflecting its popular designation since its opening. The airport was also moved from government control to the authority of a new
Narita International Airport Corporation, usually abbreviated to "NAA." The headquarters is on the airport grounds. The authority previously had its head office in Tokyo with some offices in and around Narita; the head office moved and the Narita offices consolidated according to the decision by the Japanese Cabinet in July 1988 making it a
special corporation. The NAA head office started operations at the airport on 1 July 1996, in the former
Japan Airlines operations center, acquired by NAA in July 1994. Renovations occurred from September 1995 to March 1996. After the move, the Kishimoto Building in
Marunouchi,
Chiyoda, Tokyo housed the NAA's Tokyo functions. The Community Consultation Center is in the Chiyoda Branch of Shibayama-machi Community Center in Osato,
Shibayama, while the Airport Information Center is located in Sanrizuka, Narita.
Expansion and increased capacity New Tokyo International Airport was originally envisioned to have five
runways, but the initial protests in 1965 led to a down-scaling of the plan to three runways: two parallel northwest–southeast runways in length and an intersecting northeast–southwest runway in length. Upon the airport's opening in 1978, only one of the parallel runways was completed (16R/34L, also known as "Runway A"); the other two runways were delayed to avoid aggravating the already tense situation surrounding the airport. The original plan also called for a high-speed rail line, the
Narita Shinkansen, to connect the airport to central Tokyo, but this project was also cancelled with only some of the necessary land obtained. By 1991, Narita was handling 22 million passengers a year, despite only having a design capacity of 13 million.
Terminal 2 and the second runway "B" (removed in 2013) and
Tokyo Skytree are visible when approaching the runway On 26 November 1986, the airport authority began work on Phase II, a new terminal and runway north of the airport's original main runway. To avoid the problems that plagued the first phase, the Minister of Transport promised in 1991 that the expansion would not involve expropriation. Residents in surrounding regions were compensated for the increased noise-pollution with home upgrades and soundproofing. These improvements continue to this day. Terminal 2 opened on 4 December 1992, at a cost of $1.36 billion. The new terminal had approximately 1.5 times the space of the older terminal, but its anti-congestion benefits were delayed because of the need to close and renovate much of the older terminal. The airport's land situation also meant that the
taxiway to the new terminal was one-way for much of its length, and that taxi times between the terminal and runway were up to 30 minutes. The runway was further impeded by a three-story concrete building in the path of its taxiway, which the Union had constructed in 1966, forcing the taxiway to bend inward toward the runway. This imposed restrictions on the number of aircraft that could use the runway, since it was impossible for an aircraft to safely pass through the curve in the taxiway while another aircraft was using the runway. allowing an additional 20,000 flights per year. In 2008, the Supreme Court of Japan ruled in favor of the airport authority regarding ownership of Union-occupied land in the path of the taxiway, allowing the taxiway to be modified to provide enough room for safe passing. The building remained in place until August 2011, when authorities removed it under a court order; 500 police officers were dispatched to provide security for the operation while 30 airport opponents protested. Beginning on 20 October 2011, the airport was approved to allow simultaneous landings and take-offs from the A and B runways. The approval allowed the airport to increase annual take offs from 220,000 to 235,000 and increase hourly departure capacity from 32 to 46. The parallel runways are apart.
Transit upgrades of
JR East is in gray. New
Skyliner route is in purple. The Keisei Main Line is in green Through the end of the 1980s, Narita Airport's railway station was located fairly far from the terminal, and passengers faced either a long walk or a bus ride (at an additional charge and subject to random security screenings). Transport Minister
Shintaro Ishihara, who later served as governor of Tokyo, pressed airport train operators JR East and
Keisei Electric Railway to connect their lines directly to the airport's terminals, and opened up the underground station that would have accommodated the Shinkansen for regular train service. Direct train service to Terminal 1 began on 19 March 1991, and the old Narita Airport Station was renamed
Higashi-Narita Station. The
Narita Sky Access Line opened on 17 July 2010, cutting 20 minutes off the travel time. The line's new
Skyliner airport limited express services with a maximum speed of are scheduled between Tokyo's
Nippori Station and
Narita Airport Terminal 2·3 Station in 36 minutes, which compares favorably with other major airports worldwide. A new
expressway, the North Chiba Road, is also under construction along the Narita Rapid Railway corridor. Improvements such as the
Wangan Expressway also shaved off travel time to Kanagawa Prefecture by bypassing Tokyo. The Japanese government has also invested in several local infrastructure projects in order to address the demands of airport neighbors. The largest of these is the
Shibayama Railway, a short railway connection between the
Keisei Main Line and the area immediately east of Narita Airport. This line opened in 2002 with government and NAA support after extensive demands from Shibayama residents, and provides a direct rail link from Shibayama to Narita City, Chiba City and central Tokyo. Another such project is the Museum of Aeronautical Sciences in Shibayama Town, which draws tourists and student groups to the area. ==Future developments==