Hongqiao airport looks to boost international open hub

Shanghai's Hongqiao airport plans to launch long-haul international flights at the T1 terminal to cater to the development of the Hongqiao International Open Hub.

The newly-established Hongqiao International Airport Co is studying plans on opening intercontinental routes to popular destinations such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Paris and Singapore, said Yang Peng, deputy general manager of the company.

The company, which became a subsidiary of the Shanghai Airport Authority during the authority's latest reorganization, registered recently in Changning District.

It signed an agreement with the district government at the quarterly investment promotion meeting on Wednesday along with 26 other key companies that have moved recently to the downtown district.

Currently, Shanghai's international flights have been moved to Pudong airport to cope with the COVID-19 prevention measures against imported cases. Hongqiao airport handles the large majority of popular domestic flights, such as the Shanghai-Beijing express flights.

The Hongqiao airport company has also spent 77 million yuan (US$11.9 million) to renovate a historical building under protective status, which was initially built in 1924 by an executive of the Shanghai Municipal Council as his holiday resort on the city's outskirts.

A nearby auditorium for Hongqiao airport employees has also been renovated. The hall built in the 1950s was preserved with a newly developed public park near the Hongqiao Airport Terminal 1 Station of Metro Line 10.

A memorial stone tablet to commemorate Huang Yuquan, a Chinese air force pilot who sacrificed his life during the Songhu Battle against the Japanese intruders in 1932, has been preserved in the park. The tablet was found in 2018 during the construction of a new hanger for business jets at the airport.

The complex has opened bearing the name "Hongqiao Origin" to celebrate the centenary of the airport this year, Yang revealed. It will open to the public with exhibitions and various public activities.