Passengers changing flights at Tokyo's Haneda airport will get a new option for layovers when their body clock demands nothing but a place to crash.
A new hotel opening Tuesday will offer transit travelers a room and a shower without having to clear passport control.
Royal Park Hotel the Haneda will become the first hotel in Japan to offer rooms within an airport's "airside" zone, said operator Royal Park Hotels and Resorts Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Estate Co.
The hotel's main business will be on the "landside," serving travelers arriving or departing at awkward times.
Its smaller "transit" section has a separate entrance and lounge, with 17 bedrooms.
For travelers seeking only a place to rest, the section also offers eight rooms with a sofa, television and shower, intended for short-stay use.
The facility can be accessed directly from the transit area. Its users will have no way to cross into the hotel's landside section.
Flights at Haneda increased in March, and the operators are betting on a further increase of flights and passenger traffic.
The hotel will have 313 rooms in total. It targets an overall occupancy ratio of 80 percent and sales of ¥2 billion in the initial business year ending next March, a spokesman said.
The hotel's opening follows recognition of Haneda airport as a 5-Star Airport for 2014, a quality rating assigned by Skytrax in August. It is Japan's only airport to have the highest ranking.
According to Skytrax, an air transport rating organization, the rating recognizes "the highest standards of product and service delivery across the many different assessment categories in the airport environment."
It is given to airports that are "at the forefront in terms of service quality and consistency, and in many instances for product and service innovation in the airport conditions," Skytrax said.
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