Japan Airlines Lounges At Tokyo-Haneda Airport Closed For Renovation Until March 2020, Moved To Alternate Location

The renovations at Tokyo-Haneda Airport and specifically Japan Airlines Lounges are still ongoing and passengers are being redirected to an alternate location within the international Terminal.

The original Sakura & First Class Lounges have been closed for renovation purposed and customer can now use the refitted Skyview Lounges next to Gate 114 prior to their flight.

This has been going on for a few months now and will last until at least March of this year (possibly longer) in preparation for not only the Tokyo 2020 Olympics but a wider expansion of Haneda Airport including a tough uptick in traffic following new routes to North America.

Japan Airlines has published respective information on their website (access here).

Please be advised that JAL First Class Lounge and Sakura Lounge located on the 4th floor in the Main Building of Tokyo (Haneda) International Airport will be undergoing renovations and will be closed from October 29, 2019 to the end of March 2020. During this period, Alternative lounge arrangement will be made and offered as follows.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this interruption of lounge service may cause and deeply appreciate your patience and understanding.

This extensive renovation, upon its completion, will allow us to provide enhanced levels of quality and comfort to our valued guests.

During this period JAL also allows Business Class passengers the same “First Class” Lounge as the usual eligible Groups (First Passengers, oneworld Emerald):

oneWorld Sapphire have to use the regular Sakura Lounge benefits.

This policy has lead to extreme overcrowding of the First Class Lounge and at times it’s really hard to even find a seat.

Here are some directional informations from the placards JAL put up:

While they allowed all Business Class passengers into the First Class Lounge, Japan Airlines has also taken the liberty to downgrade the champagne at the same time:

JAL advertises Laurent Perrier on their website yet at the moment they put out Damien Hugot.

Conclusion

Haneda Airport can hardly keep up with the passenger volume anymore and I’m puzzled how this is supposed to work with additional long haul flights during peak hours.

The renovations are needed but I’m not sure the policy of allowing a substantial amount of extra passengers, namely everyone in Business Class, to use the First Class Lounge was a very good idea. In fact I think it’s a horrible idea as the lounge became a madhouse that has zero to do with First Class or relaxing environment. Hopefully the renovations are completed soon!