Kobe Trip Part 1: Fly to Kobe with Skymark

[Introduction]

I traveled to Kobe in early March. In Kobe, major tourist spots such as bay area, Kitano Ijinkan-gai and Chinatown were concentrated, which was convenient for tourists. In this article, I will write about flight to Kobe with Skymark as part of Day 1.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1: Fly to Kobe with Skymark [This article]
* Day 1: Chinatown and Former Foreign Settlement etc.
* Day 1: Meriken Park and Harborland
* Day 1: Meriken Park and Harborland (Light-up)
* Day 2: Kitano Ijinkan-gai
* Day 2: Ikuta Shrine, Nunobiki Herb Gardens etc.
* Day 2: Kobe Great Bridge (Light-up)
* Day 3: Kobe Oji Zoo
* Day 3: Kobe Animal Kingdom
* Day 3: Chinatown and Old Foreign Settlement (Light-up)
* Day 4: Himeji Castle
* Day 4: Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
* Day 4: Sannomiya

[Travel Date]
2018.03.08 – 11

[Main Part]

It has been a while since I posted the previous article about my Macau trip, and I will start a new series. I visited Kobe in early March.

When I looked for a destination in Japan for my next trip, I found there were lots of photogenic spots in Kobe, so I decided to visit Kobe for the first time.

Haneda Airport Terminal 1

I started the trip at Haneda Airport.

I mainly use ANA (All Nippon Airways) due to my frequent flyer program and ANA actually has a route between Haneda and Kobe, but I decided to use Skymark. Skymark falls into an intermediate category between flagship carriers and LCCs and uses Kobe Airport as its hub airport with lots of flights. This was a good chance for me to fly with Skymark, so I decided to use it.

The check-in counter of Skymark.

Since it was early morning, I will have breakfast at the airport. I stopped by “Hitoshinaya”.

I ordered “Sake Zen (Salmon set meal)”

I passed the security check and moved to the departure gate.

This is the aircraft of Skymark.

Fly to Kobe with Skymark Flight 101 (BC 101)

I will fly to Kobe with Skymark Flight 101 (BC 101).

I got on board the plane.

At this moment, Skymark owns only Boeing 737-800 as its fleet and all of its flights consists of economy class only. Its seat pitch is 31 inches (79 centimeters), which is almost equivalent with domestic flights in major airlines, so I didn’t feel cramped.

The aircraft started to move.

I just happened to see another Skymark aircraft with special decoration.

Takeoff.

In-flight service of Skymark was simplified and “KitKat” was given to passengers.

There were novels related to Kobe, which I read during my trip.

View from a window seat.

It took about 1 hour and 20 minutes and the airplane landed at Kobe airport.

Since Kobe airport was a hub airport for Skymark, I saw another aircraft of Skymark.

Kobe Airport

I thought it would be a waste to leave Kobe airport soon, so I went to the rooftop observation deck.

Another airplane of Skymark just landed over there.

The aircraft stopped adjacent to the one I boarded.

On the 3rd floor, there were glass-walled windows.

It looked like “Salar de Uyuni” in Bolivia, didn’t it?

Move to Sannomiya by Port Liner

I left Kobe airport and will move to Sannomiya, the central area in Kobe, by Port Liner.

View around the ticket gate.

I took a train.

Port Liner runs along “Port Island”, an offshore city, so passengers were able to enjoy beautiful scenery.

Another train bound for Kobe airport passed.

I arrived at Sannomiya after 18-minute ride.

Then, I moved to “Motomachi” area on foot.

For the first two nights, I will stay at “Kobe Motomachi Tokyu Rei Hotel”.

Then, I will go around Chinatown and Old Foreign Settlement etc.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about flight to Kobe with Skymark as part of Day 1.

I used Skymark this time for the first time and found the airline was good. Although its in-flight service was simplified, its airfare (about 70% of major careers) was reasonable while its seat pitch was almost same level with mega careers. In particular, there were lots of flights between Haneda and Kobe, so if I have another chance to visit Kobe, I would like to use Skymark again 🙂

In the next article, I will write about Chinatown and Former Foreign Settlement etc. as part of Day 1.

[Map]

1 Kobe Airport
2 Sannomiya Station (Port Liner)
3 Kobe Motomachi Tokyu Rei Hotel

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