Shanghai airports top 2026 AIR rankings

Shanghai retained four leading positions in an annual assessment of China's aviation hubs and airport-linked economies, according to research released recently by the Civil Aviation University of China.

The city topped the economic rankings for cities served by large airports, while its Pudong New Area led the corresponding district rankings. Shanghai Pudong International Airport ranked first in passenger throughput and aircraft movements.

The 2026 AIR rankings, based on 2025 data, cover the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions. They were jointly released by the university's Aviation Institute for Research in Economics and Development and a research center for high-quality civil aviation development.

The assessment examines both airport traffic and the economic strength of surrounding areas. Airports are grouped by traffic volume, while associated cities and districts are ranked by GDP within those categories.

Shanghai's leading positions come alongside record traffic at its two airports. Pudong and Hongqiao together handled more than 135 million passenger trips in 2025, up 8.3 percent year-on-year, according to Shanghai Airport Group. Cargo and mail throughput reached about 4.5 million metric tons, an increase of 7.9 percent. Both figures were record highs.

The airports' combined route network reached 302 destinations across 54 countries, with the number of countries served hitting a record high. New intercontinental destinations included Belgrade, Casablanca, Geneva, and Buenos Aires, the group said.

In the study's district rankings, Pudong New Area led the large-airport category with GDP of 1.88 trillion yuan ($281.6 billion). Beijing's Chaoyang district, Tianjin's Binhai New Area, and Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area followed, giving China's four municipalities all four leading positions.

Beyond the rankings, the report highlighted stronger economic growth in the areas covered by the study. The cities assessed generated a combined GDP of 117.28 trillion yuan in 2025, with growth of 6.2 percent, compared with national growth of 5 percent. The districts assessed recorded a combined GDP of 20.93 trillion yuan and growth of 7.4 percent.

These figures measure the overall economies of the areas concerned, rather than aviation's direct contribution to their output.

Air cargo was another area of strong growth. Across the airports covered by the report, cargo and mail throughput rose by about 8.9 percent, compared with passenger growth of 4.7 percent. Hong Kong International Airport topped the cargo rankings, followed by Shanghai Pudong and Guangzhou Baiyun.

At the provincial level, Jiangsu and Guangdong retained the top two positions, while Zhejiang overtook Shandong to rank third following the opening of airports in Lishui and Jiaxing. Those rankings measure the combined GDP of cities associated with airports, rather than entire provincial economies.

The researchers said China's civil aviation industry is shifting from expansion toward improving quality and efficiency. Turning air traffic into greater economic value, they said, will require closer cooperation between the aviation industry and local governments, with development tailored to local conditions.