Pudong International Airport has contributed a lot to Shanghai as a global shipping center in its 15 years and now has two terminals and four runways that can handle 47 million passengers a year and more than 370,000 aircraft, and has a cargo throughput of 2.9 million tons.

Soft and hard environment

The airport was opened on Sept 16, 1999, with the take-off of Shanghai Airlines flight FM451, and by March of 2008, with further construction work, it could handle 60 million passengers, 4.2 million tons of cargo, and 490,000 aircraft annually.

Since December 2012, it has spent 1.5 billion yuan ($244.35 million) on Terminal 1's infrastructure to allow for a passenger throughput of up to 36.8 million and meet the needs of 13 million passengers. It is also a window in Shanghai and China, and has continued to promote its service over the past decade and a half, by focusing on convenient, safe, efficient, and thoughtful services through better planning, management, evaluation, and innovations.

The airport has joined the Airports Council International in 2007, and the Global Airport Passenger Satisfaction survey to keep in line with world-class airports and had a rating of 4.84 in 2013, putting it in fourth place out of 235 airports, for a great improvement over its 3.7, and 63rd, out of 101 airports, in 2007.

International airline network

With a goal of becoming a hub for the Asia-Pacific region, it has always seen itself as a comprehensive service center for Chinese and international airlines. And a network has taken shape, with nearly 70 international and 24 domestic airlines using the airport to reach 109 cities around the world and 85 on the mainland. In the first half of this year, it opened a direct flight to Ethiopia, providing greater and faster service to Africa.

In addition, its special policies, such as a 24-hour transit visa exemption and 72-hour visa-free stay, has allowed it to establish a dominant position in flights to Japan and South Korea as well as to Southeast Asia and to Europe and North America.

International airfreight hub

Pudong International Airport opened its west freight section in 2008, as a base station complementing the Airport Bonded Logistics Park and surrounding areas. That bonded logistics park is one of Shanghai's top four and has attracted the world’s top three logistics enterprises----UPS, DHL, and FedEx to set up international transit centers together. DHL started its international transit LCL business in November 2011 at Pudong International Airport, making it China’s first airport in the LCL business.