HANGHAI this week will unveil a brand-new airport terminal - the latest mega-infrastructure project to be completed as the Chinese city prepares to welcome tens of millions of visitors to Expo 2010.
The city has spent US$2.2 billion (S$3.07 billion) on the makeover of Hongqiao airport, located just 35 minutes from the city centre, and made it part of a ultramodern travel hub linking metro, high-speed rail and a proposed maglev train line.
The new terminal, which opens on Tuesday, is four times as big as the old one, which was designed for 9.6 million passengers a year but handled more than 25 million in 2009. It will handle 90 per cent of the flights out of Hongqiao.
'The old airport was bursting at the seams,' said Shanghai Airport Authority (SAA) vice-president Li Derun. 'The new terminal can effectively reduce delays and alleviate pressure on Pudong Airport during the Expo.'
Pudong Airport is Shanghai's main airport for international flights while Hongqiao is used mainly by domestic airlines, and officials expect the vast majority of the 70-100 million visitors expected at Expo to come from China.
The new terminal and a second runway are part of a chain of projects that will see up to 400 billion yuan (S$80.9 billion) in direct and indirect investment in the Expo, according to state media - more than the 290 billion reportedly spent on the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
- Sitiemilia ,Singapore.
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