[SH Transit] Shanghai Plans Bigger Airports, Stronger Air and Sea Links

Shanghai aims to complete the fourth-phase expansion of Pudong International Airport by 2030 and a new airport in Nantong by 2035 under an aviation hub strategy unveiled today at the annual North Bund Forum.

Work on Pudong's fourth-phase expansion began in January 2022. The project includes Terminal 3, airfield facilities and a passenger transit system.

Jointly released by the Shanghai government and the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the strategy targets a leading Asia-Pacific aviation hub by 2030, handling around 150 million passenger trips and 4.7 million tons of cargo annually.

Li Nuo, deputy director of the administration's development planning department, outlined the targets at the forum.

By 2035, the plan calls for integrated operations and efficient transport connections across three airports in two cities: Shanghai's Pudong and Hongqiao airports and the new Nantong airport in neighboring Jiangsu Province.

Annual passenger and cargo throughput for the aviation hub is targeted to reach 200 million passenger trips and 5.4 million tons, respectively.

Construction of the Nantong airport is planned to begin in 2027, with two 3,600-meter runways, a 520,000-square-meter terminal and a designed annual passenger capacity of 40 million.

Two planned rail links, the high-speed railway along the northern bank of the Yangtze River and the Rudong-Nantong-Suzhou-Huzhou intercity railway, are intended to meet at the airport.

The airport projects form part of Shanghai's broader push to strengthen its role as an international shipping center.

Shanghai Mayor Zhu Zhongming has identified the aviation hub as a key part of that effort, calling for better infrastructure and smarter, greener operations.

Some changes are already visible on the departure board. China Eastern's Shanghai additions this year include Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Tbilisi (Georgia) and Adelaide (Australia). Its winter plans include more flights to Sydney (Australia), Auckland (New Zealand), Frankfurt (Germany) and London Heathrow, among other destinations.

At the forum, China Eastern also presented a service framework combining air travel with other transport modes and services such as door-to-door baggage delivery.

The aim is to extend its offering beyond the flight: the Shanghai-based airline said its cross-sector network now includes 130 partners in fields ranging from culture and business travel to health care.

Its renewed partnership with Shanghai's Ruijin Hospital, for instance, will focus on strengthening the hospital's team of volunteer doctors and nurses supporting passengers during flights.

It will also provide flight assistance for children with special needs receiving treatment at Ruijin and explore services linking flights and health checkups for international arrivals.

Cleaner shipping, closer partnerships

The maritime side of Shanghai's ambitions involves another extension of services: helping ships obtain cleaner fuels and working with overseas ports to support their use along international routes.

International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez pointed to Shanghai's progress as evidence that the transition was already under way. "For me, it's very clear that Shanghai has demonstrated that the green transition is possible and it's also happening right now," he said.

Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said China accounted for 40 percent of the port's trade.

The port handled almost 3 million twenty-foot equivalent units, a standard measure of container traffic, in the third quarter, he added.

Seroka said the green shipping corridor with Shanghai was advancing, including cooperation on alternative fuels.

Casey Hehr, chief administrative officer of the Port of Long Beach, said the American port wanted to learn from technologies developed in Shanghai and China.

Customer expectations are also changing. Hehr noted that companies were looking beyond the lowest shipping cost and asking how emissions reductions were measured.

"But now you're seeing customers like Amazon, like Nike, like IKEA that are demanding this zero-emission or low emissions movement of cargo," he told Shanghai Daily.