CHINA. Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao International Airport handled a combined 99 million passengers in 2015, a sharp +11% rise from the 2014 figure of 89.6 million.
Shanghai Airport Authority noted that Pudong hit a new high of 30 million international passengers in the year. The airport handled 190,000 international flights, up by +9.3% year on year.
With traffic demand expected to surge in coming years, the two Shanghai airports are expected to handle more than 110 to 120 million passengers annually by 2020.
The new satellite will thrust Shanghai Pudong into a new league among the world’s top airports measured by passenger traffic on completion
To react to the anticipated sharp growth in passenger volumes, Shanghai Airport Authority began construction of an ambitious new satellite terminal on 29 December. The airport’s third terminal will have capacity for 38 million travellers a year when completed in 2019.
With 83 departure gates, the new facility will be divided into terminals S1 and S2 and attached to the south of the current T1 and T2. It will cover a total of 620,000sq m, even larger than T2, which covers 490,000sq m.
The investment in the airport will be CNY20.6 billion (US$3.1 billion).
A spokesman for Shanghai Airport Authority said the new building would be “the largest detached terminal around the world and also the first satellite terminal in China”.
The existing terminals have 70 gates – 28 in T1 and 42 in T2 – but these are no longer enough to serve Shanghai’s increasing demand for air travel, said the airport authority.
Pudong airport is expected to handle 60 million passengers this year and 80 million a year by 2025.
Shanghai Airport Authority noted: “In terms of traffic, the new terminal will make the airport become one of the world’s top three.”
“Passengers will be able to go the new terminal by taking an underground subway after checking in at the current two terminal buildings,” said Shanghai Airport Authority President Li Derun. The subway project is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.
Building the future: Shanghai Airport Authority President Li Derun launches the construction of the world’s largest satellite airport terminal at Shanghai Pudong International on 29 December
The new terminal will have capacity for 38 million passengers annually when it is completed in 2019
