There are two observation decks at each end of terminal 2 (north and south), and we found the south to be the best, as it gave a good photo-point, of aircraft entering or leaving the terminal 2 ramps on the connecting taxiways, whilst it also offered a fleeting glimpse of aircraft taking offf, and taxi-ing to take-off. There is only one runway at Narita, in front of terminal 1, with terminal 2 facing the other way. This fleeting glimpse was possible through a gap between terminal 1 and the cargo complex, which from terminal 2 south deck was only the length of a taxi-ing Boeing 747, so reading-off was a bit of a challenge. Aircraft landing or taking-off I found impossible to read, but those on the taxiway quite easy with a moderately powerful telescope. Of course this only applied to those aircraft parking on terminal 1, which does handle less airlines than terminal 2. It was useful to get a little warning of something taxi-ing past this gap, by listening to the ground frequency (121.8). The tower frequency is 118.2. The observation decks are free, and accessed by escalators at either end of the main check-in level of terminal 2, which incidentally is a very clean and impressive structure. There are numerous cafes and restaurants on the level of the observation decks, many of which overlook the ramp. We used a MacDonalds take-away a few times (prices comparable to the UK) !.

The weather was much better than we had been expecting, and we felt it was much nicer to sit out in the sun, and get sunny-side-up shots, than spending the day inside terminal 1, looking out through dirty windows.

Traffic was much as any other international airport, and apart from all the JAL and ANA international wide-bodies, it could have been Frankfurt or Paris etc. Stars of the day were probably the two Chinese A340's (both of which I dropped !), but were superb photo oppportunities. There is a surprising amount of United/Northwest 747 movements, but we failed to get them all, as they are both terminal 1 users, and while we saw an awful lot land, we strangely didn't seem to see too many taxi-ing or departing, at least up until our departure. Sunset was at 1800, and we left at about this time for our hotel, the Narita View, just off the airport perimeter. We failed to get a room overlooking the airport, although we were on the top floor, however it did seem a bit distant, and fairly pointless to try for anything in the dark. We were shattered by now, and ate (and drank ... only a couple !) in the hotel bar, and crashed quite early.

Highlights of the day for me were my last Northwest 747-1/200, and my first Austrian A340. Total new was 24 for me.

Log - Tokyo-Narita - 30/3/98 - 0930-1800

4R-ADB	A.340-311	0033	ALK
9M-MHN	B.747-4H6	24836	MAS
9M-MKE	A.330-322	0077	MAS
9M-MRB	B.777-2H6	28409	MAS
9V-SMG	B.747-412	24226	SIA
9V-SMT	B.747-412	27137	SIA
AP-BEB	A.310-308	0587	PIA
B-2382	A.340-313X	0141	CES
B-2386	A.340-313X	0199	CCA
B-2468	B.747-46J	28755	CCA
B-HNA	B.777-267	27265	CPA
B-HOO	B.747-467	23814	CPA
D-ABVS	B.747-430	28286	DLH
DQ-FJE	B.747-238B	22614	FJI
EC-EEK	B.747-256B	24071	IBE
EP-IAB	B.747SP-86	20999	IRA
F-GEXB	B.747-4B3	24155	AFR
F-GITC	B.747-428	25344	AFR
F-OGYP	A.310-324	0442	AFL