It’s been a long, long time since I came out to spot planes. The pandemic hadn’t improved much, and the weather was constantly gloomy, so I barely touched my camera for a whole 4 months.

Today the weather finally cleared up, so I made a special trip to HANEDA INNOVATION CITY, a new spot at Haneda Airport, to check it out.

HANEDA INNOVATION CITY is a commercial complex that just opened a few months ago. It features facilities like restaurants and a concert hall, and is located right next to the west side of Haneda Airport. On the roof of the 2nd floor, there is an observation deck where you can see the International Terminal and the cargo/business jet Apron up close.

Getting to HANEDA INNOVATION CITY is very convenient. Whether you take the "Tokyu Line" or the "Tokyo Monorail", just get off at "Tenkubashi" (the station before Terminal 3, aka the International Terminal) towards the airport. During the pandemic, most airline flights have ceased operations, so the **Apron** is full of idle planes, with tugs constantly towing over aircraft with no missions.

Fortunately, domestic flights have started to resume recently, so it’s a bit better than when I came in June, so I can still capture some flights in the air.

The only international flight in the morning, a Lufthansa A340. The only international flight in the afternoon, a Delta Air Lines A350.

During the pandemic, there are basically only domestic flights, and the variety of aircraft is so small that the fun of photography is probably just 1/10th of what it was.. I look forward to the rapid development of a virus vaccine so the pandemic can leave our lives soon.

---

After leaving HANEDA INNOVATION CITY, I went to take a look at Terminal 3 and Terminal 1,

Mt. Fuji and the sunset glow at the airport. Before COVID-19, the terminal was brightly lit; now it is pitch dark, without even a single international flight. It's lonely.