Modern airport facilities makes travelling a breeze

Air Asia are continually offering more options on getting to Japan on a budget and they have just recently opened the KLIA2 airport which makes the stopover a much more relaxing and enjoyable experience. The previous low cost carrier terminal was a tough transit and was not able to cope very well with the number of travelers. The new KLIA2 facilities are fantastic and even better than a lot of major airports I have passed through. It is quite large and depending on which gate you disembark from it can be a bit of a hike to the arrivals area. If your next flight is under 3 hours away then there is plenty of space to find a comfortable lounge area and relax with a coffee and a bite to eat whilst in transit. There is free wifi throughout the airport. If you do have a longer stopover then I would suggest venturing out into the main terminal building and trying out one or even 2 of the great restaurant options. There are plenty of shops to browse and even a couple of supermarkets that have everything you would want. I was quite surprised that the prices were not inflated like they would be at many other airports. I had a great feed at Chef Chows for about $6 and purchased items from the pharmacy at cheap prices. If it is an overnight stopover then the Tune Hotel is nice enough to get a decent sleep and is very cheap. There is a covered walkway to the hotel and it only takes a few minutes from the airport shopping area.

There are 3 options coming into Japan with AirAsia – Haneda (HND) in Tokyo, Kansai (KIX) in Osaka and Chubu (NGO) in Nagoya. All are modern and well appointed airports and I find that they move people through quite efficiently at both departure and arrivals.  The restaurant choices at all of them are very good.  I always have an exit ramen when I am leaving Japan and have never been disappointed with what’s served up. The most difficult decision is how many pre flight meals should you have?

Tokyo and Nagoya are both serviced by the Chuo Taxi  and there are a number of rail options for Osaka for an easy transfer to and from Hakuba.

With the airports getting bigger and the information updated regularly I can recommend doing a bit of research on each leg of your trip before you travel so you can take advantage of the facilities available and make your transit stops a much more pleasant part of the adventure. Happy traveling.