Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) is one of Tokyo’s two major airports. It is the busiest airport in Japan (and one of the top five busiest in the world) and also serves an increasing number of international routes, following its expansion in 2010, adding a third terminal mainly for international flights. It is also the primary domestic base for Japan’s two main airlines, Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA), in Domestic Terminals 1 and 2.
Tokyo Haneda Airport can be reached by train, monorail, bus, or taxi. If you are taking the train, take the JR Yamanote Line to Shinagawa, then transfer to the Keikyu Airport Line bound for Haneda Airport. The journey from Shinagawa takes around 30 minutes. The monorail departs from Hamamatsucho Station and provides a scenic seaside journey to Haneda Airport, taking around 13 minutes.
While Haneda isn’t the best airport in the world. You don’t have Singapore Changi airport lounges, rooftop pool or its butterfly garden, with orchids and a koi pond. But it is a million times better than Tokyo’s Narita airport, which is miles from the city, old and tired.
Highlights of Tokyo Haneda include the excellent food at the restaurants across the airport, including the atmospheric Edo Market in the International Terminal, a faux traditional street market on a mezzanine level above Haneda’s check-in area. Here, you can enjoy pork cutlets and beef or dine on great sushi at Ariso.
Free Airport Lounge Access
If you have not paid for Business Class or First Class, you can still access a number of brilliant lounges at Tokyo Haneda Airport for a fee or for free if you have a Priority Pass. There are more Priority Pass Lounges at Tokyo Narta Airport (HND) than Tokyo Haneda Airport.
Paid entrance is also sometimes possible using cash or you can get in for free if you have a Priority Pass which comes free with the Amex Platinum card. You can also access most Priority Pass lounges for free using the free American Express Gold with its two free Lounge Club passes. To get extra referral points and advice on these free-lounge-access cards and more, have a read of our best credit cards for luxury travel.
Below I outline the very best airline lounges at Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND):
1. Japan Airline’s JAL Sakura lounge, International Terminal
I reviewed Japan Airline’s JAL Sakura lounge At Tokyo Haneda Airport before boarding my British Airways B777-300ER flight in Club World Tokyo to London. It’s worth noting that the JAL lounge is, in effect, the British Airways lounge at Tokyo Haneda as British Airways does not have its own lounge at this Airport.
Club World and First Class passengers have access to this Japan Airline’s refurbished Sakura lounge as well as Business and First passengers flying JAL, along with top tier Oneworld flyers like BA Emerald. The lounge is found at gate 112 in Henada’s international terminal. You reach the reception via escalators, where the staff will guide you to either the Business or First Class section within the lounge.
The First Class section has a la carte dining and is less crowded, but both these lounges are excellent, and the decor is created by the Japanese interior designer Ruy Kosaka. The Japan Airlines Sakura (which means Cherry Blossom) Lounge spreads over two floors. The lower floor is mainly used as a dining room but also has lockers (to store carry-on luggage) and shower facilities. There is also a business center and a small self-serve bar on this floor.
The upper floor has a large lounge area with plenty of seating options, including an array of sofa chairs and bar stools. Both floors feature contemporary décor, incorporating traditional Japanese styles such as latticework, Sakura cherry blossom motifs, and pieces of art. Both floors are bathed in natural light, with large windows offering excellent views of the runways and planes.
I visited the lounge in the early morning hours. The breakfast was a large buffet station. The food selection was extensive, with a mixture of Western and Japanese cuisine and tasty freshly baked bread. The buffet also featured scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausages, bacon, sandwiches, corn flakes, chilled corn soup, a salad bar, rice porridge with scallops, spicy seasoned cod roe, grilled Spanish mackerel, and Japanese omelet. A filling selection. I can’t comment on the food during the rest of the day, but judging by their morning offering, expect it to be generous with great variety.
2. ANA Suite Lounge, International Terminal
There are two ANA lounges in the International Terminal at Haneda Airport. First Class customers on ANA and/or Star Alliance member carrier international flights and one accompanying guest can access the ANA Suite Lounge lounge. ANA Diamond Service members on ANA and/or Star Alliance member carrier-operated flights and one accompanying guest can also access this lounge. Customers under the age of 2 on ANA-operated flights are welcome for free, but basically, the ANA Suite Lounge is ANA’s First Class lounge.
This lounge has plenty of seating (sofa and restaurant-style) and incredible views of the planes and across the airport. In fact, the restaurant-style seating is right by the window with tables and chairs with fabulous views – food with a view!
Every time you sit down, a lounge attendant appears with a cold towel and an offer to bring you a drink, which is a nice touch. Two large buffets and separate noodle bars offer both Western and Eastern hot and cold dishes. There are also plenty of soft drinks, including water, tea, coffee, beer, wine, and spirits. An a la carte menu is also available, featuring western and eastern options, including the popular Waygu beef.
This lounge has shower facilities, Toto toilets with heated seats, business/working areas, booths for private work and conversations, newspapers, drinks (including alcohol), and food. It is an extremely good lounge and joint best lounge with the JAL Sakura First Class lounge.
3. ANA Lounge, International Terminal
First and Business Class customers on ANA and/or Star Alliance member carrier-operated flights and one accompanying guest can access the ANA Lounge, International Terminal along with ANA Diamond Service members, ANA Platinum Service members, and ANA Super Flyers Card members flying on ANA and/or Star Alliance member carrier operated flights, and one accompanying guest can also access this lounge.
Star Alliance Gold members on ANA and/or Star Alliance member carrier-operated flights and one accompanying guest can also access this lounge. Unusually, customers flying Premium Economy can also access this lounge. Paid Lounge access is available at the international “ANA LOUNGE” in Haneda Narita and Honolulu (Daniel K. Inouye International) airport.
All of ANA’s Heathrow flights, which depart Tokyo, fly from Haneda, which is far nearer and more convenient for the city center than Tokyo’s Narita airport.
The ANA lounge is located amongst the Duty-Free shops and high-end retailers near Gate 110 and next door to the ANA Suite Lounge. There is plenty of seating in this stylish lounge with lots of power points, comfy seats, dining tables, and booths.
Food-wise, there’s a cold food buffet that offers a salad bar with sushi and finger sandwiches, a hot buffet with hot noodles and, strangely, chicken nuggets and chips (maybe for the kids), and a made-to-order kitchen that delivers very good noodle dishes, ramen and so forth. The drinks are well stocked, and there is free alcohol, too.
Shower rooms are very classy, with black slate walls and amenities, including toothbrushes, toothpaste, and slippers. The toilet has a Japanese bidet function. The staff are very friendly and super smart and are constantly refilling the food before it’s finished, making this lounge very good.
4. Cathay Pacific Lounge (International Terminal
The Cathay Pacific Lounge in Haneda Airport is another great lounge at Tokyo Haneda Airport. It is one of the best and is very smart and stylish with a Cathay Pacific style. This lounge is accessible to the airlines’ and Oneworld Alliance’s passengers traveling in First or Business Class. Even if you are traveling on an alternative airline like JAL or BA in Business or First, you can access this lounge.
The lounge has loads of floor-to-ceiling windows offering lots of light and nice views. The decor is designed by a London-based design studio called Studiolise, and the design includes warm colors and natural materials. The best feature of the lounge is the swivel chairs that offer excellent views of the runways and look out over the airport.
In terms of food, the Noodle Bar has a resident chef who serves you excellent fresh noodles, with a changing menu that includes dan dan noodles, wonton noodles, and pork bone broth noodle in soup.
The Food Bar is a buffet for salads, sandwiches, and pastries, and it offers authentic Japanese breakfast items every morning. There is also “The Bar”, with wines, spirits, freshly blended cocktails, and barista coffees, and there are some automatic draft beer dispensers.
High-speed Wi-Fi is available throughout the lounge, and helpful USB chargers and power sockets are conveniently located. Plus, there is a business area with four individual workstations with dual operating system iMacs and printers.
Located next to The Noodle Bar is the Food Bar, which is where passengers can choose from a selection of lighter snacks and items like salads and wraps – obviously, this did not appeal to me because there is nothing more disappointing than a light breakfast (you either go big or go home!). What is more important, in my opinion, are the amazing swivel chairs and plush throne-like chairs that offer expansive views of the runways – this is truly an aviation geek’s dream! There is also a station where you can get barista-made coffee, but I have decided to save that for the actual flight instead. Apparently, the F&B in this lounge was managed by the Hotel Okura Enterprise when it first opened, but I cannot be certain whether this is still the case.
There are no showers here in this lounge, so if you want a shower, you might want to consider the JAL Sakura Lounge above as an alternative Oneworld lounge with shower facilities.
5. Delta Sky Club (To Open 2020)
Delta Air Lines is set to become the largest US air carrier to serve Tokyo Haneda and is planning on opening a Delta Sky Club at the Tokyo airport in the summer 2020.
This will undoubtedly be a fairly decent lounge with International and Japanese seasonal food offerings, a full-service bar that includes complimentary drinks, along with seasonal cocktails and wine selected by Delta’s Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson on the premium bar menu. There will also be high-speed Wi-Fi, comfortable seating, and power outlets at most seats and shower suites.
Right now, Delta One passengers have access to the rather poor third-party TIAT lounge, which is adequate at best.
Delta Sky Clubs are accessible to Sky Club members and complimentary for those passengers traveling in Delta One, SkyTeam Elite passengers traveling on international itineraries, or Delta flyers holding The Platinum Card from American Express, The Business Platinum Card from American Express, Delta Reserve Credit Card from American Express and Delta Reserve for Business Credit Card. Delta’s other co-branded American Express cards do permit entry into Sky Clubs, but with an entrance fee, currently around $29 USD. To get extra referral points and advice on these cards, have a read of our best credit cards for luxury travel.
6. TIAT ANNEX Lounge International Terminal
There are two TIAT airport lounges at Tokyo Haneda. They are both similar, and we review the TIAT ANNEX Lounge. This lounge’s reception is shared with the SKY LOUNGE ANNEX. Both lounges are run by the same company, but the TIAT lounge is accessible to premium passengers of certain airlines, including China Airlines, Delta Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, China Southern Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Cathay Dragon, VietJet Air.
Delta does not yet have a Sky Club at Haneda, so if you’re flying Delta in Business, you get access to the TIAT Lounges. These lounges are fine, with plenty of seats, power points, and some atmosphere, but are very average.
Positives are the large windows with great views onto the tarmac, the free newspapers, and free food, but the food isn’t great, particularly compared to other lounges at this airport. You can eat sushi rolls, Yakatori-style chicken and snacks, rice, and soups. There’s also a very limited free self-serve bar with Wine, saké, vodka, gin, and beer as well as soft drinks. Expect very similar to the TIAT lounge, just in a different location. TIAT is found in International Departures Area 4F Lounges, and TIAT ANNEX is found in International Departures Area 5F Lounges (North).
7. SKY LOUNGE at Tokyo Haneda
There are two SKY LOUNGE airport lounges at Tokyo Haneda, SKY LOUNGE ANNEX at International Departures Area 4F Lounges (North), the other SKY LOUNGE ANNEX at International Departures Area 4F Lounges (Central).
The SKY LOUNGE ANNEX reception is shared with the TIAT ANNEX Lounge. The SKY LOUNGES are accessible to specific credit cardholders. In the SKY LOUNGE, there are armchairs in the center and then smaller chairs facing a long, thin desk by the window that overlooks the runways. These are great spots to plane watch. The lounge itself is basic and not stylish at all, unlike the airline lounges above.
In a kitchen area, there is a selection of soft drinks for free, with alcohol and food requiring an additional charge. This is not a great lounge, and unless you get it for free, it is not worth using. Certainly, I wouldn’t recommend paying for access to either the SKY LOUNGE or the SKY LOUNGE ANNEX. Spend the money on nice food in the terminal’s food court.
8. Domestic Airport Lounges
There are currently six domestic airport lounges; three in Terminal 1; three in Terminal 2.
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