Shanghai airports see surge in intl flights, passenger traffic
Shanghai airports have seen the launch and resumption of multiple international flight routes this year, with robust growth in international passengers.
Among the newly launched flights is DV461 operated by Kazakhstan's SCAT Airlines, which departed from the historic city of Shymkent in Kazakhstan and landed at Shanghai Pudong International Airport on May 30. It marks the commencement of Shanghai's first direct passenger flight route to a Central Asian country.
Delta Air Lines' Flight DL39 touched down at Pudong airport with over 200 passengers on June 2, signifying the resumption of the US airline's Shanghai-Los Angeles direct flight service.
This year, Shanghai is set to introduce new flight routes to Geneva, Switzerland, on June 16, Almaty, Kazakhstan, on July 4, and Kumamoto, Japan, on July 11. Plans are also underway to increase flight frequencies to destinations such as Milan and Kuala Lumpur later this year and reinstate the Copenhagen route.
Data from Shanghai Customs shows that in the first five months of this year, the city saw 104,000 inbound and outbound flights, marking a 14.5 percent year-on-year increase. International air passengers surpassed 17 million, 20 percent higher than the previous year.
Of these passengers, 4.84 million were foreign nationals, mainly from South Korea, Japan, and Thailand. Nearly 60 percent of foreign visitors arrived in China for tourism purposes.
Meanwhile, over 10.9 million residents from the Chinese mainland travelled through Shanghai's ports in the first five months, a 16.8 percent uptick compared to the same period last year.
Sources: Jiefang Daily, Xinmin Evening News
