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My cherry blossom-hunting Japan trip is divided into 3 parts, an Osaka portion, a Tokyo portion to meet a longtime friend, and a countryside finish afterwards to explore the smaller cities to the north, planned around the Nagano and Niigata area 5 day pass which includes the Shinkansen.An Asia Miles redemption on a short domestic flight between Osaka and Tokyo costs only 7500 miles and there were no additional surcharges - not even airport taxes. It seemed like a better deal than taking the Shinkansen, with a chance to spot Mount Fuji en route and I get to try out Osaka's city centre Itami airport, a new one for me, and finish at Haneda, which is also close to the city centre. To sweeten the deal, 2 checked bags are also included and seat selection is free. It seems Japan Airlines is stuck in the good old days of flying, when passengers were treated with respect. I had originally planned to take the subway and transfer to the monorail so I won't need to deal with traffic, but this city centre airport isn't really that close to the city after all. Google Maps clocks this journey at over 50 minutes. I had noticed an airport limousine bus pull into a stop outside Namba station, and with no transfers and an even shorter journey time, I thought whether it was worth taking the traffic jam risk but reach the airport in relative luxury with a proper seat. Reaching the Itami Airport bus stop more than 2 hours before departure, I saw staff on hand and a neatly-shaped line already. The bus runs at 20 minute intervals and once it arrived, the staff asked each of us which airline we're taking because our larger bags will be put into different sections of the hold.
Not having to need to haul my case onto the bus, I comfortably got on, paid the 650 yen with my IC card, and settled into a plush seat. I can sense this is the right decision already.
After leaving Namba station, we quickly got onto the elevated highway and zoomed our way north. There was no traffic and it only took about 20 minutes to spot the airport, with the first stop at the ANA check-in area. I would get off at the next stop (north terminal) for Japan Airlines. There was a staff were on hand at the bus stop to take your larger bags from the hold, neatly placing them onto the curb for you to continue your journey. This is superb and typical Japanese service.
The terminal looks simple and there was a huge crowd around the manual check-in desk for international flights. I headed to the kiosks, which were not too crowded, and was able to print a bag tag for my case. While I had checked in online the day before, I didn't print my boarding pass at the hotel but the machine didn't spit one out either. Asking an agent why, she directed me to a manual counter next to the international departures, which had a few people lined up and seemed to be just a short wait.
The manual counter processing turned out to be quite time consuming for a simple task of printing my boarding pass and dropping off my checked bag that has already been tagged. The agent seemed to need to go through a standard script where engaging the customer was more important than efficiently finishing the steps. Nevertheless, I was way too early for my flight so I had a lot of time before departure. The bag drop deadline is only 30 minutes before departure for domestic flights. Itami isn't a busy airport looking at the departures board. There are no international flights on Japan Airlines out of here but I presume the crowd was connecting in Tokyo for an international flight. There are departures to Haneda roughly every hour.
To reach security, head upstairs but I wanted to check out the observation deck first. It's a fairly standard feature in Japanese airports.
What I didn't expect is to see Osaka's skyline around Umeda, which reminds me a bit of Sydney.
They even had 2 webcams showing the airport's activity.
Satisfied with the ANA side of the terminal, I continued to the other side of the terminal building to see the Japan Airlines' section. It's a huge observation deck that stretches along the terminal building's length.
It's common to see widebodies operate on this major route between the country's 2 biggest cities. My flight today would be on a Dreamliner.
Satisfied, I headed through security and was quickly air-side. There were the typical shops selling souvenirs and a beautiful food court.
The interior design is warm and quite trendy. As typical of Japan, there's no garbage anywhere.
Itami is a much older airport compared to Kansai. Opened in 1939, the terminal building has been well-maintained and clean with lots of seating areas at the gates. I was a little hungry but continued to explore the gate areas before sitting down for lunch.
The departures board also indicates how long it would take to walk there, a nice touch!
Noticing a slight delay on my flight, I had time to grab a quick bite at a ramen shop. Prices were reasonable and not more expensive than the city, costing about 1000 yen only. That is only about USD $6.5 based on the rock-bottom exchange rate at the time.
Today's flight is operated by a Dreamliner, which is fairly common on this short shuttle route to Tokyo. As we were getting ready to board, another Dreamliner pulled in next door.
This Dreamliner is configured in a 3-3-3 seating arrangement and the doors closed with a full loading. Out back around me was a big group of loud American students. Good that I had secured a left window seat earlier online or else I probably wouldn't have much luck at the airport. The engines started up at 4:50pm and we pushed back 6 minutes later.
The IFE had more than enough content for such a short flight but the international selection was so-so. I would compare it to a little better than Air Canada and not industry-leading like Emirates.
It's only a little over an hour flight to Haneda, with some clouds starting to roll in as we taxied out. I had a wonderful half day sightseeing in Osaka, catching the cherry blossoms at full bloom around the castle and nearby river under blue skies.
In typical Japanese fashion, the ground staff would line up and wave us goodbye as we started moving.
We took off towards the north at 5:11pm and quickly made a 180 degree turn to head south and then another 90 degrees to head east.
As we made the first turn, I could see Osaka's skyline in the distance. It would've been a nicer view from the right window but I wanted to see Fuji more so had to settle for the left side.
Unfortunately, it got progressively cloudier and we veered off the coast more and more. The crew served a drinks round as we cruised at 17,000 feet and I soon started noticing we were descending 30 minutes after take-off.
It was approaching sunset and Tokyo was having a far cloudier day, so I couldn't see Fuji at all and could barely make out Yokohama as we came in for landing. I will try again on my next flight back to Hong Kong!
We landed at 5:58pm after an uneventful flight, slightly late after our slightly delayed departure.
Arriving and departing passengers are mixed together at this terminal. It wasn't a long walk to the baggage hall exit but I had to wait a bit longer for my bag.
A very thoughtful amenity I noticed at the baggage hall exit are bins for your bag tags so you don't need to dispose them when you get home. I hope the paper gets recycled.
From Haneda, it is an easy ride on the Keikyu Airport Line into Shinagawa, where I'll be staying for the weekend. Japan Airlines delivered solidly, and I was quite impressed some of the features that are now chargeable on other traditional carriers have not made an appearance here. These are the good old days in aviation!
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