Narita Airport Terminal 2 Shuttle System

Narita Airport Terminal 2 Shuttle System
Narita Airport Terminal 2 Shuttle System
	The Narita Airport Terminal 2 Shuttle System in March 2008 with a Malaysian airline aircraft behind
Overview
Locale	Terminal 2 of Narita International Airport, Narita, Japan
Transit type	People mover
Number of lines	1
Number of stations	2
Operation
Began operation	6 December 1992
Ended operation	27 September 2013
Operator(s)	Narita International Airport Corporation
Technical
System length	279 m (915 ft)

The Narita Airport Terminal 2 Shuttle System (成田空港第2ターミナルシャトルシステム, Narita Kūkō Dai-ni Tāminaru Shatoru Shisutemu) was an automated people mover used in Narita International Airport, Narita, Chiba Japan. The system operated between 1992 and 2013.

History

The Shuttle System opened in 1992 with the opening of Terminal 2 of Narita International Airport, the international airport serving the Greater Tokyo Area. The shuttle linked the main building of the terminal and its satellite, 279 metres away. The whole ride took a minute, and was free of charge.

The system was made by Nippon Otis Elevator, a company specialising in elevators and escalators. It was technically (and legally) not a railway, but a horizontal elevator; cars were attached to a cable that moved them, like a funicular. The cars did not have wheels; instead, they floated on a 0.2-mm layer of compressed air. This was the first use of such a system to be used in an airport, as well as the first in Japan.^{[citation needed]}

A new walkway between the main and satellite buildings had opened on September 27, 2013, whereafter the people mover ceased operations.^[1] The space formerly used by the shuttle was converted into moving walkways and shops.