Hi, it’s me again, JPNavi! Today it’s about trips to Japan!
Great, so if I want to go to Japan for cherry blossom, then I get tips for my trip here?
Exactly!
Or if I want to go to Fuji in the summer..😉 Nowadays you are immediately on the other side of the world by plane.
That’s right, but it’s still not a stone’s throw to Japan, so I’ve put together some general information about flying to Japan and some concrete travel options. The main focus here is on flight time, flight routes and costs.
So: How long do you fly to Japan? What are the flight routes to Japan? Which airlines fly to Japan? How much does a flight to Japan cost?
A short presentation of the international airports would also be very practical – depending on where you want to go, you can choose the right airport.
Also the international airports with address and nearby city are a chapter! So, pick the right one and let the journey begin!
Distance and fligth time.
To get a rough idea: how far is it actually from Germany to Japan?
From Munich to Tokyo it is almost 9400km as the crow flies. That is a good 200km closer than from Munich to Los Angeles or Rio de Janeiro.
Roughly speaking, you can expect a direct flight to take 11h30min. This varies, however, with the direction, the jet stream and thus also with the season in which you fly.
Connecting flights take longer: depending on the place of transfer, there are “fast” connections from about 15 hours to over 30 hours with the corresponding waiting times at the transit airport. Of course, it is often a question of cost, but connections that take longer than 25 hours become tiring. And time is better used in Japan than at the airport when changing planes, so I would recommend to adjust the flight dates a little bit instead of having to put up with eternal transfer times. By shifting the flight dates by a day or two, cheaper options are often available.
Fligth routes and airlines.
Since Japan is also located in the northern hemisphere, most airlines fly via northern Russia – with the exception of transfers in the area of the Arab Emirates.
There are direct flights from:
Airlines with a transfer at a European airport fly via:
Alternatively, there are routes with changeover in the Arab Emirates, China or Russia.
In general, I would recommend that you sign up for the airline’s mileage program – it is free and you earn miles on your first flight. Who knows, maybe you will use the Alliance again soon and accumulate enough miles to redeem.
The major alliances are Miles & More, One World and Sky Team. Some airlines, such as Emirates, have their own mileage programme.
Miles & More includes Lufthansa, ANA, Austrian Airlines, Air China, LOT Polish, SAS, Swiss, and Turkish Airlines.
Members of Sky Team are Air France, Alitalia and KLM. One World includes British Airways, Finnair, JAL and Qatar Airways.
Whoever of course uses airlines within an alliance can also achieve a higher status if they fly enough flights per year. Miles accumulate in any case, and depending on the airline, these can then be exchanged for vouchers or reward items, for example.
Prices for the fligth.
Flights are priced in a wide range, of course depending on the airline and travel time. In the best case you can fly to Tokyo for less than 500€, if it gets expensive, you pay over 1000€. As “normal” I would estimate about 800€, if you are a bit flexible in the travel dates and in the choice of the airline.
Here you should also pay attention to the luggage regulations. Depending on the airline a different amount of check-in luggage is included. So depending on how much you want to buy in Japan, this should also be a criterion when booking 😉
Lufthansa, ANA and Polish Airways, for example, have the special arrangement of two 23kg luggage pieces on flights to Tokyo. The baggage rules are also constantly changing, so be sure to check the airline’s website before booking.
For some travel constellations, an open jaw flight can be useful, but these are usually a bit more expensive.
International Airports in Japan.
In the following I would like to introduce you to the most frequently used international airports in Japan. Airplanes from all over the world land here, an arrival at the national airports is only possible by changing at an international airport. I will introduce some national airports in a further article at some point.
Tokyo – Haneda
HND (MUC – HND: 9361km)
Ota, Tokyo, Kanto, Japan 大田区, 東京都, 関東地方, 日本
Tokyo – Narita
NRT (MUC – NRT: 9368km)
Narita, Chiba Prefecture, Kanto, Japan 成田市, 千葉県, 関東地方, 日本
Osaka – Kansai International Airport
KIX (MUC – KIX: 9240km)
Tajiri, Sennan County, Osaka Prefecture, Kinki Region, Japan 田尻町, 泉南郡, 大阪府, 近畿地方, 日本
Nagoya – Chubu Centrair International Airport
NGO (FRA – NGO: 9269km)
Naka Ward, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Chubu Region, Japan 中区, 名古屋市, 愛知県, 中部地方, 日本
Fukuoka – Fukuoka Airport
FUK (FRA – FUK: 9102km)
Hakata Ward, Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyūshū, Japan 博多区, 福岡市, 福岡県, 九州地方, 日本
Sapporo – New-Chitose Airport
CTS (MUC – CTS: 8762km)
Chitose, Ishikari Subprefecture, Hokkaidō Prefecture, Hokkaidō Region, Japan 千歳市, 石狩振興局, 北海道, 北海道地方, 日本
To be considered.
On the outbound flight to Japan you usually arrive the next day because of the time shift. You should take this into account in your planning. Even on a direct flight with a duration of about 11.5 hours, you will only land after 18.5 or 19.5 hours – depending on whether it is summer or winter. You can find more about time change and jet lag here.
On the way back, on a direct flight, you usually land on the same day, which feels like a short time after you take off. Here you get the 7 or 8 hours back again, so it is only 4.5 or 3.5 hours later than the local departure time if you have a direct flight.
Summary.
The distance to Japan is about 9400km, for which you need about 11.5 hours with a direct flight.
There are a number of airlines and international airports that I have introduced. Here you should pay attention to the price as well as the flight duration and thus the transit time.
Concerning the costs you have to calculate with about 800€ on average; if you are flexible it will be cheaper. In the high season it can also be over 1000€.