Birth of new aviation hub
(CHEN QIDE)
10/18/2002
Starting on October 27, all overseas flights previously arriving at Hongqiao Airport - including those from Hong Kong and Macao - are required to land at Pudong International Airport together with some domestic flights. Passengers are warned to make sure of their airport before taking flight."This is a key step the city government has taken to turn Pudong Airport into an Asia-Pacific aviation hub," said Wu Nianzu, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Municipal Government. Wu said the shifting of air traffic to Pudong has been approved by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China and "preparations are approaching completion." Under the plan, domestic flights bound for Shanghai from Northeast China, Sanya and Haikou of Hainan Province, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai of Guangdong Province, and Qingdao, Yantai, Weihai, and Weifang of Shandong Province will be landing at Pudong Airport. After the move, Pudong Airport will receive 2,621 flights weekly, while flights at Hongqiao Airport will be 1,859. "But Hongqiao will still be an alternate airport for international flights in case of emergencies," Wu said. According to Xia Xinhua, director of CAAC's East China Administration, all the feeder flights will be landed at Hongqiao Airport, along with business planes from overseas multinationals. Local insiders said the move aims to increase Pudong Airport passenger numbers, because the airport has plenty of space to expand. Last year, it handled only 6.9 million passengers, a small proportion of the city's 20.66 million annual air passengers. Wu said local air passengers are expected to increase by more than 3 million this year, with the passenger total reaching an estimated 33 million by 2005 and 60 million by 2010. "Shanghai urgently needs to expand the capacity of Pudong Airport so that the city can become an Asia-Pacific aviation hub as soon as possible," he said. Wu added that Hongqiao Airport is surrounded by housing and buildings so it has no space for further enlargement. The city government, he said, has made a strategic decision to focus its economic development on the eastern side of the Huangpu River, where a deep-water port, an Asia-Pacific hub airport and a section of the nation's coastal railway from the north to south are located. Du Chuncai, president of the Shanghai Airport Group Company, said Pudong Airport authorities are making preparations for construction of a second runway and terminal building, which will open next year in response to the increase in flights. Their combined investment is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion), he said.
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