Pudong satellite terminal to open in September

The world's largest satellite terminal building will begin operating in September at the Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, along with an express subway.

The satellite terminal is about 700 meters from T1 and T2 terminals. The three will be linked by an underground subway.

The project is expected to provide a faster transfer service and boost punctuality at one of the busiest airports in China, the Shanghai Airport Authority said yesterday.

Upon completion, the Pudong airport will be able to handle 80 million passengers annually. It served a total of 74 million passengers in 2018.

The airport subway will be the country's first of its kind. New subway trains have been undergoing tests at the airport as the express system readies for service. It is designed to transport 9,000 passengers per hour during peak periods.

Each train is about 94 meters long with four compartments, two for domestic flight passengers and the others for international flight passengers. There will be screens with flight information, as well as luggage racks.

Passengers will also be able to check in at one of the two existing terminal buildings and then take the subway — a ride of about three minutes — to get to the satellite terminal.

The subway trains will have an interval of about two minutes, according to the airport authority.

Lessons learnt during the operation of the city's Metro will be applied to the subway.

Shanghai's two airports have a huge turnover of passengers and cargo requiring facilities to be upgraded.

The Pudong and Hongqiao airports handled more than 117 million passengers from home and abroad in 2018, a 5.2 percent increase year on year, making it the world's fifth-busiest air hub after London, New York, Tokyo and Atlanta.

The local airport authority launched a series of major expansion and renovation works, including the construction of the satellite terminal that started in 2015.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport is a major Chinese international aviation hub. Located about 30 kilometers east of downtown Shanghai, Pudong Airport occupies an area measuring 40 square kilometers adjacent to the coastline of eastern Pudong New Area

Official Website: www.shanghaiairport.com/index_enpdjc.html