CHINA - Shanghai has unveiled a new airport terminal and transport hub to help the city handle the estimated 70 million visitors it expects to attend the upcoming World Expo.
The new Hongqiao terminal is the latest upgrade in a revamp of Shanghai’s transport system, already stretched by the city’s 20 million inhabitants.
The new second terminal, located west of the current terminal building, will handle almost all domestic flights from the airport, though some charter and international flights will still use the older facility.
More than 25 million passengers used the airport last year, and the latest 15.3bn yuan (US$2.2bn) expansion will raise its capacity to 40 million passengers. The hub will have a daily capacity of 1.1 million, according to the government.
The Expo, which runs for six months from 1 May, may attract as many as 800,000 visitors a day at peak times. The vast majority is expected to be Chinese, with many travelling from the densely populated Yangtze River Delta region that surrounds Shanghai.
