Shanghai’s airport system is more than ready for the millions of extra passengers that are expected to pass through its facilities this year for the World Expo, writes Joe Bates.

When Shanghai–Pudong International Airport opened its new Terminal 2 as part of an ongoing $2.8 billion development programme two years ago, it did so with the 2010 World Expo in mind.

True, it desperately needed the new facility as soaring demand since the airport’s October 1999 opening meant that throughput had already exceeded the 20mppa design capacity of Terminal 1.

But, with the Chinese government predicting that the event will be bigger than the Beijing Olympics, not having it by now was simply not an option.

How can the World Expo possibly be bigger than the Olympics? Well, because it will feature over 20,000 cultural shows, runs for six months from May and is expected to attract over 70 million visitors from across the globe.

Indeed, with participants from nearly 200 countries and 50 international organisations, it will be the biggest World Expo of all time, and one that the Chinese authorities believe will cement Shanghai’s status as a major economic and cultural centre.

And for an estimated 16 million visitors, Shanghai’s Pudong and Hongqiao airports are the first and possibly last experience they will have of the city, so Shanghai Airport Authority (SAA) was determined to create a good impression with its facilities.

“We now have the facilities that can help showcase Shanghai to the world.

We think visitors to the 2010 World Expo will like what they see,” says Ruijun Jia, president of Shanghai International Airport Co Ltd, which operates Pudong for SAA.

Pudong is the city’s main gateway – serving as the main hub for China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines and the major international base for Air China – while Hongqiao effectively serves as a domestic airport. Between them they handled 56.9 million passengers and nearly three million tonnes of freight in 2009.

Shanghai Airports Authority expects a record 42.3 million to use Pudong this year because of the World Expo – a remarkable 33% rise in throughput.

A significant 30% increase in domestic passengers proved the catalyst for last year’s 13% upturn in throughput at Pudong.

Built at a cost of $1.6 billion when it opened a decade ago, Pudong currently boasts two terminals, three runways and an assortment of cargo facilities capable of accommodating 60 million passengers, 4.1 million tonnes of cargo and 490,000 aircraft movements per annum.

The master plan, however, calls for a total of three terminals, a satellite building and two additional parallel runways by 2015, raising Pudong’s capacity to 80mppa.

And with the airport fast expanding over its 50 square kilometre site around 30km from downtown Shanghai, there has even been talk of Pudong’s fifth runway being built on land reclaimed from the sea.

Further expansion is likely to take place between now and 2012 in-line with the company’s Three Year Plan.

Something the airport is keen to talk about is the difference Terminal 2 has made to customer service standards and operational efficiency at Pudong, Ruijun Jia citing its light and bright design, comfortable environment and a host of passenger-oriented facilities as the key reasons for the huge rise in customer satisfaction levels at the airport since its opening.

A quick snapshot of T2 shows that its ‘customer friendly’ facilities include nearly 14,000 seats; children’s play areas; 54 nurseries; easy to find meeting points; free WiFi services; and free drinking water dispensers every 70 metres in waiting areas that offer instructions in Braille and voice prompts once clicked.

Despite its 485,000sqm size, T2 also boasts some impressive minimum connecting times – just 18 minutes for passengers without luggage on domestic flights and 29 minutes for those transferring between international services.

Both terminals between them cover 763,500sqm of floor space that includes more than 30,000sqm dedicated to retail and F&B outlets.

A total of 31.9 million passengers and 2.5 million tonnes of freight passed through Pudong in 2009 ensuring that it enjoys the status of China’s second busiest passenger hub after Beijing Capital and the world’s third biggest cargo airport.

It actually handles more international traffic than Beijing Capital but cannot match, for now at least, the 65 million passengers per annum handled by China’s biggest gateway.

The huge freight volumes easily make Pudong the largest cargo airport in Mainland China and its status is reflected by the fact that China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, UPS and the Shanghai Pudong International Airport Cargo Terminal Co Ltd (PACTL) all operate mega-terminals at the gateway.

In addition to the mega-terminals, Pudong also has three express handling centres where FedEx, DHL and UPS all have facilities.

The planned addition of an integrated bonded area will also boost the airport’s appeal to shippers.

A ground transportation centre located between the terminals houses Pudong’s maglev station and provides bus, rail, coach and taxi links to downtown Shanghai and beyond.

A top speed of 432km/h ensures that it takes trains operating on the world’s first commercial high-speed maglev service just seven minutes and twenty seconds to reach Shanghai city centre.

What can Pudong ultimately achieve as an airport? “The aim is to become the best airport in China, a first-class airport globally and one of the most attractive hubs in the Asia-Pacific region,” says Ruijun Jia.

Things haven’t exactly been quiet 40km away at Shanghai–Hongqiao International Airport either, as the airport only recently finished its expansion programme, the project ending with the March 2010 opening of its very own Terminal 2 and second runway.

At 362,600sqm, Hongqiao’s T2 is around four times the size of its Terminal 1 and will be home to all but one of the 12 domestic carriers serving the airport.

Spring Airlines, China’s sole low-cost carrier, remains the only carrier still operating out of the old terminal.

The opening coincided with inauguration of the gateway’s new Metro Line 2 railway station which allows passengers swift journey times to downtown Shanghai.

Hongqiao’s terminals are managed by Shanghai Hong Kong Airport Management Co Ltd, a new joint venture formed by Shanghai Airport Authority and the Airport Authority of Hong Kong.

The new joint venture will also manage the retail business of the two terminals and aims to raise the quality of airport service for visitors and delegates to World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

SAA chairman and president, Wu Nianzu says: “Forming the joint-venture has enabled us to leverage Hong Kong International Airport’s wealth of management experience and skills in operating a renowned hub airport, thereby further improving our operating efficiency and management to equip ourselves for the upcoming World Expo.”

The new facilities effectively mean that Shanghai Airport Authority has triumphed in its goal to transform Hongqiao into a gateway capable of handling 40 million passengers, one million tonnes of cargo and 300,000 aircraft movements yearly by 2015.

The new terminal and 3,300m long runway were the key projects of a $1.5 billion development programme, and they were also desperately needed as, according to press reports in China, the airport’s former infrastructure was only really built to handle 10mppa but handled over 25 million passengers last year.

Indeed, the huge demand for both passenger and cargo services in Shanghai is the reason why the city decided to open a second airport just over a decade ago.

With passenger traffic rising by 12% across Shanghai’s airport system last year and a significant jump expected in 2010 due to the World Expo, the decision to operate two airports was clearly the right one.

Asia-Pacific Airports 2011 Issue 1