Red-letter day for new satellite terminal

Dong Jun / SHINE

Massimo Zanzani, a traveler from Italy, is the first passenger to board from the new S1 terminal.

Pudong International Airport's new satellite terminal opened to the public on Monday.

The H-shaped terminal building, the world's largest, is known as S1 and S2. The structure covering 620,000 square meters is about 700 meters from existing terminals 1 and 2 (T1 and T2).

Passengers departing from the new structure checked in at the two older terminal buildings and then took a two-and-a-half minute subway ride to the new facility.

Arriving passengers took the subway to T1 and T2, before receiving entry inspections and picking up their luggage. The trains run every five minutes.

China Eastern Airlines' Flight MU787 to Rome became the first international flight to depart from the new satellite terminal. The Airbus 350 with 221 passengers on board took off at 12:55pm.

Massimo Zanzani, a traveler from Italy, was the first passenger to board from the S1 terminal.

"Everything is nice, good and in order at the new terminal," said Zanzani. "It is one of the best terminals I've ever visited."

Andrea Angelici, another passenger from Italy, said he was impressed by the subway system.

"It is efficient and satisfying to passengers," said Angelici, who had just finished a business trip in Shanghai.

The satellite terminal has 90 boarding bridges and 125 aprons. Passengers can now board over 90 percent of domestic and international flights from terminal buildings directly, rather than take shuttle buses to board on the tarmac.

Previously, nearly half the flights at Pudong required remote boarding and shuttle bus rides.

The new facility has also expanded capacity at one of the world’s busiest airports, while improving and streamlining transfer procedures.

With the new terminal open, Pudong is now able to handle 80 million passengers annually, 6 million more than before.

S1 and T1 mainly serve China Eastern, Shanghai Airlines and other SkyTeam Alliance airlines. They can now handle 36.8 million passengers per year. S2 and T2 can handle 43.2 million passengers annually with China Southern, Air China, Star Alliance and Oneworld members.

Dong Jun / SHINE

The central hall at S1 terminal where passengers can transfer between domestic and international flights conveniently

Dong Jun / SHINE

A VIP lounge of the Shanghai Airport Authority at S1 terminal

With help from volunteers, the operation of the new terminal went smoothly on Monday. Boarding gates marked G or H mean passengers should take the subway to the new satellite terminal.

The new subway is also the world’s first airport transport system using steel wheels and rails, the same as Shanghai's Metro lines. The system is designed to carry 9,000 passengers per hour.

Each train is 94 meters long with four compartments, two for domestic flight passengers and two for international travelers. They have screens with flight information and luggage racks.

Shopping and dining facilities at the new terminal also opened on Monday. There are over 28,000 square meters of commercial space, including over 10,000 square meters of duty-free shops in S1 and S2, comparing with the 6,000 square meters at T1 and T2.

Shanghai's two airports have become overburdened with passengers and cargo in recent years. Together they handled over 117 million passengers in 2018, making Shanghai the world’s fifth-busiest air hub after London, New York, Tokyo and Atlanta.

A series of expansions and renovations, including the building of the satellite terminal and a three-year renovation of Terminal 1 at Hongqiao, are helping to ease the pressure.