For taking photos of aircraft at Haneda Airport, the observation decks on the terminal buildings are generally the easiest spots (Terminal 1 allows shooting of 34R/16R, while Terminal 2 and the International Terminal allow shooting of 34L/16L). Additionally, Jonanjima Seaside Park (for takeoffs on 34R and landings on 22) and Ukishima Park (for landings on 34L) are also quite well-known.

Keihinjima Tsubasa Park is also a decent spot for photography. It is a seaside park located to the right of Runway 22, basically parallel to the runway, so it allows for side-profile shots of aircraft on landing approach.

To get to Keihinjima Tsubasa Park by public transport, take the No. 24 bus from Omori Station and get off at the “Keihinjima Kaihin Koen” (Keihinjima Marine Park) stop; the journey takes about 25 minutes.

I wanted to go to Haneda for photography that day. Since the wind was from the south, I decided to check out Keihinjima. After getting off the bus, you can see a map of the park, introductions to various airlines, and the bus timetable for Keihinjima Kaihin Koen station.

The weather on the day was overcast, dark, and with poor visibility—not exactly what you’d call ideal. I haven’t been out shooting much recently, so my skills have declined a bit. I didn’t aim for artistic results, just treated it as a practice session. Since there was a southerly wind, takeoffs used 34L/34R, and landings used 22/23.

Since the view here isn’t too open, I turned on my wireless receiver to listen to ATC, which helped me prepare for incoming aircraft.

While shooting at Keihinjima, I found the available compositions were rather monotonous—basically just the phase of flight over the sea or a perfect side profile directly above the Runway. Additionally, being a certain distance from the Runway, even with a 400mm lens, it was hard to get distinctive close-ups, so the resulting photos aren’t very visually appealing. Here are a few shots.

First, over the sea.

Side-profile shots of international flights:

Cathay Pacific B77W China Eastern A330 Singapore Airlines B772 Vietnam Airlines A321 (Note the comparison with the same type of aircraft below) Philippine Airlines A321

Side-profile shots of Japanese domestic flights:

Two StarFlyer A320s (Note the differences) Skymark Airlines A330-300 JAL B767 “Habatakou, Nippon! Mirai o Nosete” & “WAON JET” Special Livery JAL B772 “Eco Jet Nature” Special Livery JAL B767 One World Livery JAL B773 One World Livery Comparing the following Boeing 737s: ANA B737-800 Star Alliance Special Livery Solaseed Air B737-800 “Omuran-chan” (Nagasaki Prefecture, Omura City) Special Livery Skymark Airlines B737-800 JAL Express B737-400. JAL Express was merged into its parent company JAL on October 1, 2014, but this aircraft hasn’t had its livery repainted yet. ANA B737-700, you can see there is only one emergency door in the middle of the fuselage, unlike the four aircraft above. Yomiuri Shimbun’s business jet Cessna 560 Citation Encore+

The results really look monotonous. I cropped a couple of shots to check, but they weren’t too ideal either. The weather didn’t cooperate, and the lack of light makes the photos look rather gray and dark. Please bear with them.