Shanghai Hongqiao Airport unveiled its fancy new terminal renovations yesterday.
Construction on Terminal 1 Building A started in 2014. The results were finally shown off to passengers traveling with China Eastern and Spring Airlines over the weekend. (Lucky them!)
This was the airport's biggest overhaul ever, with a 40 percent increase in floor space. The new terminal also features higher ceilings, more efficient customer inspections and security checks to cut down on check-in and security times.
Passengers should arrive early for their flights while the airport works out kinks in the system. China Eastern will also refund tickets for passengers who miss their flights due to the terminal's opening for the next week.
Among some of the new improvements include an "online area" with plenty of charging ports:
... improved charging ports at the gates:
... more one-stop traffic transfers:
... a dozen more self-service clearing channels*, bringing the total number up to 54:
* Find out how to use the E-Channels to skip immigration lines with a Z Visa here.
... 46 check-in and 27 frontier inspection counters — more than double from the previous building:
... snazzy sofas in the waiting area for domestic flights:
... bigger waiting areas with improved and increased ATMs, banks, duty free shops and more:
... "Courtesy Seats" for elderly, pregnant or disabled passengers:
... a children's play area:
... upgraded bathrooms:
... brand spankin' new trolleys from German brand Wanzl:
... increased volunteers around the airport to provide services to passengers:
... and a new underground parking lot which accomodates 1,250 vehicles:
The new parking garage is also directly linked with the Yan’an Lu Highway, making it simpler for travelers coming by car to reach the airport. Parking garage charges are RMB10 for the first hour and RMB5 for each following hour.
Arrivals are also set to be much easier for passengers without cars. The new terminal now has eight waiting spaces for cabs, up from two in the old building. There's also a new parking facility with 150 parking lots exclusively for taxi drivers which is just a little over a kilometer away from the airport. Drivers using apps like Didi can wait there while passengers send them pick-up instructions.
This is just the first phase of reconstruction on T1, with Building B expected to be completed by mid-2018 — just in time to help China reach the expected 2.2 billion passengers to be handled by Chinese airports by 2025. Building B is now temporarily closed while it undergoes its own makeover.
Passengers traveling out of T1 are advised to contact airport hotline 96990 for assistance.
According to Shanghai Daily, T1 serves 42 international flights and 68 domestic flights each day.
[Images via CAAC News, Netease, The Paper, Tech Web]
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