Passengers on the up so Pudong will expand

A NEW round of expansion at Pudong airport is being planned by the Shanghai Airport Authority to meet increasing passenger demand.

Pudong and Hongqiao international airports are expected to receive more than 116 million passengers this year, a 5 percent increase from last year.

The number may rise to 200 million by 2035, far exceeding the current capacity of both airports, said Qin Yun, the Party secretary and chairman of the airport authority.

“The airport authority is accelerating planning to launch the fourth expansion work for Pudong airport,” Qin told the Global Airport Commercial Revenues Conference, also known as the Trinity Forum 2018 in Shanghai yesterday.

About 300 experts and officials from global airports, merchandising enterprises and industry organizations attended the two-day conference organized by the Shanghai Airport Authority in Jing’an District.

The conference, which had the theme “changing airport and travel retail commercial eco-system,” aimed to help global airports adapt to commercial trends and offer better shopping experiences to customers.

The expansion work will be key for both airports’ next stage of development, he noted.

To improve shopping experiences, Qin said the airport authority will gradually expand the sizes of shopping facilities at the terminals of both airports.

The boarding and transit process will also be simplified to spare more time for passengers to shop at the terminal buildings.