ANA Holdings launched a trial of the MoVA mobility rental service at Haneda Airport on June 15, 2026, providing wheelchairs, electric mobility devices, and strollers to assist travelers. While this news is not about a new flight route, it is important for Hungarian travelers heading to Japan: the service addresses the common problem where airport assistance often ends at the terminal, while the actual journey continues in the city, at railway stations, in hotels, and across multi-city itineraries.
For many Hungarians, a trip to Japan is not just a single city visit, but a carefully constructed tour: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, and perhaps Hiroshima or the Fuji region are included in one program. Such an itinerary is incredibly rich in experience but can be logistically sensitive, especially if there are young children, elderly travelers, family members with temporary injuries, or persons with limited mobility in the family. This is why it is noteworthy that MoVA is not exclusively about classic airport assistance, but about allowing the device to be used outside the airport.
What started at Haneda?
According to ANA's announcement, a trial has started at Haneda Airport and will run from June 15 to December 31, 2026. The service is available at the MoVA counter located on the first floor of the domestic arrivals level of Haneda Terminal 2, between 10:00 and 18:00 Japan Standard Time. As part of the trial, manual wheelchairs, two types of electric wheelchairs, electric mobility scooters, and strollers can be rented.
The essence of the service is that the traveler does not only receive temporary assistance within the terminal. The rented device can be taken out of the airport, allowing use to continue to the hotel, urban transport, or onward travel. This can be particularly useful for those who do not wish to check their own wheelchair or stroller on a plane but still do not want to rely solely on short-term airport assistance.
The official Haneda Airport service page also indicates that there is paid stroller and mobility device rental for use outside the airport, with details and bookings handled through a linked external service page. This is important because it is not enough for Hungarian travelers to know that "there is help at the airport"; they must check in advance exactly which terminal, with what opening hours, under what booking conditions, and with what language support the service is available.
Why is this more than a simple airport convenience service?
MoVA is interesting because it targets one of the most difficult points of accessible travel: the transition between the airport environment and the actual destination. At many airports, assistance related to boarding, transferring, or arriving is well-organized, but the passenger's problem does not necessarily end with an escort to the door. The next step is often a taxi, the railway, the metro, hotel check-in, luggage handling, or domestic onward travel.
In the case of Japan, this is particularly evident. Transport in large cities is punctual and extensive, but at a major station, such as Tokyo, Shinagawa, Kyoto, or Osaka, walking distances can be significant. Accessible routes often exist, but they do not always coincide with the fastest or simplest route. A rentable mobility device in such cases is not a luxury, but can be part of the reality of the program.
For those traveling with young children, a stroller is a similarly practical issue. After a long intercontinental journey, many families do not want to struggle with their own large stroller, especially if the Japanese itinerary includes many train transfers, narrower urban accommodations, or domestic flights. If the rental can be planned in advance, it can reduce the number of bags and make the first day of arrival more predictable.
What is the significance of one-way drop-off?
According to ANA, one of the most important elements of the trial is that between June 15 and September 30, 2026, they are testing one-way drop-off options between Haneda, Narita, and Kansai airports without an additional fee. This means that a traveler could, for example, pick up the device at Kansai Airport, travel the so-called Golden Route popular among tourists arriving in Japan, and then drop it off at Haneda.
This detail is particularly important for Hungarian travelers. Travel from Hungary to Japan typically involves a transfer, and many itineraries do not start and end in the same place. A common logic is that the traveler arrives in Tokyo, then proceeds by rail toward Kyoto and Osaka, or vice versa: starts at Kansai and flies home from Tokyo. If the mobility device does not have to be returned to the same location, it can mean fewer detours, less time loss, and less unnecessary stress.
However, this should not be interpreted as every problem being automatically solved. The service is a trial, capacity may be limited, booking conditions may change, and the traveler must still separately plan airline assistance, railway accessibility, hotel accessibility, and urban transport. MoVA is more of a new tool for planning, not a comprehensive travel organization solution.
What does this mean for Hungarian Japan travelers?
From a Hungarian perspective, the most important lesson is that more and more providers in Japan are treating accessible and family-friendly mobility as an independent travel need. This is essential because there is strong tourist interest in Japan, while due to the distance of the country and the complexity of the routes, wrong logistical decisions can be expensive and exhausting.
Anyone departing from Budapest to Japan should consider the practical details of the first and last day even before booking, alongside the flight route. In the case of Tokyo, there is a difference between Haneda Airport and Narita Airport: Haneda is closer to the city, while Narita remains an important gateway for many international flights. In the Osaka region, Kansai Airport is the most important international entry point, and in a Tokyo-Osaka or Osaka-Tokyo itinerary, planning across multiple airports is entirely realistic.
If someone is traveling with reduced mobility, an elderly parent, or a young child, it is not enough to look at the flight ticket. It is worth creating a separate list of what assistance is available at the departure airport, the transfer point, the Japanese arrival airport, and the hotel. Accommodations around Haneda, hotels near Narita Airport, or accommodations around Osaka's Kansai Airport can be particularly useful if the arrival is late in the evening, the return journey is early in the morning, or the traveler does not want to undertake a long urban transfer immediately.
How should it be integrated into planning?
It is not advisable to check MoVA usage for the first time on the day of travel. Before booking, it is useful to see if the specific device type is available at the desired time, which terminal it can be picked up from, whether it can be combined with one-way drop-off, and what rules apply to its use. For those renting an electric device, it is particularly important to clarify conditions regarding the battery, charging, storage, and traffic rules.
Urban transport also requires forward thinking. In Tokyo and Osaka, many stations are accessible, but the location of elevators, the distance between platforms, and the crowding during peak hours can affect the route. Airport transfers or taxis are therefore not merely a matter of convenience: for some travelers, they can be a safer and more predictable solution for the first day. Those starting from Haneda to the city can compare Haneda Airport transfer options in advance, while for Narita or Kansai, travel time and luggage handling are particularly important.
Airline assistance must still be requested separately regardless of this. MoVA does not replace the official help needed for boarding, on-board preparation, or airport escorting. If someone needs wheelchair boarding, special seating requirements, medical certification, or companion support, this must be indicated according to the airline and airport rules, preferably well in advance of departure.
Why is this important for the tourism market?
Accessible tourism is increasingly less of a niche market issue. Due to aging societies, multi-generational family trips, longer city and tour journeys, and the spread of individual travel planning, more and more passengers need flexible, pre-bookable assistance that works beyond the airport. If a large airline group and a prominent Japanese airport test such a service, it can be a signal for other Asian and European airports as well.
From a tourism perspective, this is valuable because accessibility directly affects demand. A family or an elderly traveler does not necessarily cancel a Japanese tour because they are not interested in the country, but because they feel the transport details are too risky. If providers reduce this uncertainty, the destination country seems not only more welcoming but also better planable.
Summary
The MoVA trial launched at Haneda does not solve every question of accessible travel on its own, but it is an important step toward a more practical Japanese travel model. The most important message for Hungarian travelers is that when planning Japan, it is no longer just about the flight ticket, the Japan Rail Pass, or the hotel price. It is equally important how the traveler gets from the terminal to the city, from the city to the next stop, and finally back to the return airport.
Anyone planning an itinerary combining Tokyo, Osaka, or several Japanese cities in the second half of 2026 should check MoVA and similar mobility services in the early stages of the itinerary planning. A well-chosen arrival airport, a pre-booked device, an accessibly reachable accommodation, and a realistic transfer time can provide much more to the trip than a few densely packed extra programs. Japan remains an intensive, multi-layered and long-distance destination, but such services can help make it truly accessible to more travelers.