Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport

Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport is one of two international airports of Shanghai and an important airline hub of China. Hongqiao Airport mainly serves domestic and regional flights, although the airport also serves international flights. The airport is located near the town of Hongqiao in Changning District and Minhang District, 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) west of downtown, and is closer to the city center than the area’s primary international airport, Shanghai Pudong.

Hongqiao Airport is a hub for China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Juneyao Airlines and Spring Airlines. In 2016, Hongqiao Airport handled 40,460,135 passengers, making it the 7th busiest airport in China and the 45th busiest in the world.

The construction of Hongqiao airport was started in 1921. In May 1923, the airport was opened for mixed civilian use. In 1937, Hongqiao was the site of the so-called ‘Oyama Incident’ in which a Japanese lieutenant was shot dead by Chinese Peace Preservation Corps soldiers in the lead-up to the Battle of Shanghai. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the airport was occupied by the Japanese and used as an air force base. Its military use continued after being handed over to the Republic of China government and, later, the People’s Republic of China government. From late 1963, it was rebuilt for civilian use, and was re-opened in April 1964. A major expansion took place from March to September 1984, and another from December 1988 to December 1991.

Hongqiao Airport served as Shanghai’s primary airport until the completion of Pudong International Airport in 1999, when almost all international flights were moved to Pudong.

In preparation for the Shanghai Expo, on 16 March 2010 Hongqiao Airport completed a five-year 15.3-billion-yuan expansion project, which included a 3,300-meter second runway and the new Terminal 2, boosting Hongqiao’s capacity to 40 million passengers a year. Terminal 2 is four times the size of Terminal 1 and houses 90 percent of all airlines at the airport (Terminal 1 is now used only for international flights and Spring Airlines and XiamenAir). With the new runway, Shanghai became the first city in China to have five (now seven) runways for civilian use (Pudong and Hongqiao combined).

Starting from the end of 2014, Hongqiao Airport Terminal 1 underwent its biggest renovation since 1921. The entire project was scheduled for completion in 2017. On March 26, 2017, Building A of Terminal 1 was fully renovated and reopened to public.