July 23, 2021, was the opening day of the Tokyo Olympics and also a holiday. It had been a long time since I last visited the airport for some leisure. Knowing that it would be difficult to take clear photos in the scorching heat, the opportunity was too rare to pass up, so I decided to come to Haneda Airport Terminal 3 to record this special day.

Due to the pandemic, most flights are still dormant.

Coming to the rooftop observation deck on the 5th floor, you can see the volunteer staff waiting to welcome the athletes gazing at the arriving aircraft.

For example, this volunteer was holding a sign reading "Vezzali Maria". Checking Wikipedia, it turns out he was waiting to welcome a famous Italian female athlete:

Maria Valentina Vezzali (born February 14, 1974, in Jesi), an Italian female fencer. She participated in five Olympic Games in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012, winning a total of six gold medals, one silver medal, and two bronze medals.

Not long after, an ITA Airways Airbus A330 [Note: Formerly Alitalia] landed on Runway 22. I assume Maria Vezzali was on this plane.

To commemorate the opening of the Olympics, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force “Blue Impulse” aerobatic team performed a flight demonstration over Tokyo for over ten minutes. Due to clouds over the city of Tokyo and the lack of a blue sky background, the visibility looking from Haneda Airport was not ideal. I heard they were communicating on the 256.10MHz frequency, so I took out my portable radio receiver, the ICOM IC-R6, to listen. After hearing the leader say “Smoke On”, I looked for the smoke trail and managed to snap a commemorative photo. Speaking of which, the last time I watched an airshow was 3 years ago watching the J-20 in 2018. Due to the pandemic, I’d almost forgotten how to take photos.

Visibility was poor in downtown Tokyo, but the sky above the airport was crisp and clear, with spectacular cumulonimbus clouds over the distant sea. Doesn’t the cloud in the last photo look like Big Bird from the American TV show Sesame Street?

Suddenly, I heard ATC in the Tower instruct two flights on approach to Runway 22 to go around consecutively, requiring them to climb to 4000 feet. I wonder what special situation occurred on the ground?

Additionally, a Lufthansa 747 didn’t move for nearly half an hour after pushback. Did a malfunction occur? A while later, it returned to the Jet Bridge on its own. Fortunately, after more than an hour, it finally departed smoothly.

Today, from Terminal 3, I saw mostly European and American airlines, Like ITA Airways [Note: Formerly Alitalia], Like SAS, And Aeroflot, These three all use the Airbus A330.

Speaking of which, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines from the US, as well as British Airways, are regulars here.

Regarding special liveries, I had a small harvest. It was my first time seeing the Star Flyer Pokémon jet. It had been quite a few years since I last saw the Star Wars R2-D2 livery; it felt very nostalgic. I was very lucky to see this JAL Olympic gold-colored livery, especially since it reportedly only received this livery 3 days ago.

Spotting in scorching heat of over 30 degrees isn’t an easy job; it was so hot I was nearly on the verge of heatstroke, so I went home around 5 o’clock. I specifically checked the arrivals exit and found a significant increase in police presence. Additionally, a dedicated lane was prepared for Olympics personnel, and there were very many volunteers.

As always, there were many aviation enthusiasts at Haneda Airport taking photos; after all, the risk of infection is relatively lower for outdoor activities. By the way, that day I saw an elderly gentleman using a Pentax medium format film camera to photograph planes as well. He must be a veteran aviation enthusiast, right?

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