Brent Hannon checks out the new addition to Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport and points out the improvements.
In late April, without fanfare, a brand-new terminal opened at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. The event was eagerly anticipated by Shanghai-based travellers, grown weary of the long immigration lines, lack of gates, and absence of amenities at Terminal One (T1). Surely, the new facility would be an improvement. But is it? Business Traveller Asia-Pacific offers a comparison.
ARRIVAL AND CHECK IN
T1: Well, everything works. That’s the best that can be said about this pedestrian, warehouse-like structure. It evokes no awe, awakens no aesthetic impulses, and lightens no-one’s mood. But it does put people on airplanes.
TERMINAL TWO (T2): Much nicer. The glass-and-steel structure is meant to look like a giant bird, and yes, it does resemble a flying seagull. The interior is huge and impersonal, but a welcome flood of sunlight pours in through the soaring skylight windows and the high, arched ceiling is pleasant as well.
IMMIGRATION AND PRE-BOARDING
T1: The security check in the old T1 is routine, and the airport has quietly abandoned its “customs” booth, where travellers were formerly required to list their electronics, jewellery and other valuables, and hand the paper to a bored clerk, who tossed it onto an overflowing pile of identical forms.
But in the departure area, T1 is spartan. There is nothing to do or see, and little to buy. The souvenir stores and eateries are dull, and there is no internet. The restrooms require a trip to the basement. As there is usually a shortage of gates, buses are used waiting to ferry passengers to the distant corners of the tarmac. Terminal 2 is supposed to solve this perennial problem.
T2: Once again, a modest improvement on T1. Most of the souvenir stores sell panda bears and Expo 2010 knick-knacks, and the like, but a few have genuinely useful items like watches, sunglasses, wallets and purses, and so on.
Foodwise, T2 is also better, with gelato, espresso, noodles, and – yes! – a Burger King.
Note: there are no bookstores in either terminal, so travellers must forego the simple pleasures of a newspaper, magazine or paperback. And as gas prices rise, periodicals are disappearing from airplanes as well. Remember passengers, you have been warned – bring something to read.
ARRIVAL AND IMMIGRATION CHECK
T1: Let us briefly remember T1. First, there’s the inevitable tarmac treatment: a distant parking site, followed by a dreary trip on a crowded bus, and then a long shuffling walk to immigration. And immigration – oh boy – is a chaotic scrum of primeval urgency, with no queues, no ropes, and no rules. Weary foreign arrivals must abandon their good manners, and fight tooth and nail to reach an immigration window.
T2: In this regard, T2 is a dramatic improvement. Two times in a row my flight pulled into a gate, while immigration features a single orderly queue – with ropes! – that moves steadily toward the windows. Once there, polite young staff check you through, and visitors can even rate the friendliness of their services.
LEAVING THE AIRPORT
T1: The taxi queues are pretty quick, and the buses are cheap and reliable, once you work out where they go. The airport now X-rays luggage as travellers leave customs, adding another layer of delay, but that applies to both terminals.
T2: Here, T2 has laid an egg. The taxi and bus queues are on another level and are very hard to find, and the signs don’t help at all because there aren’t any.
The Maglev line is easy to take from T2, but it isn’t practical. It goes to Longyang MRT station in a distant suburb of Pudong, which means a long taxi ride to either downtown Pudong or downtown Shanghai. It’s easier to take a taxi from the airport. Also, be warned, the train has slowed down from 430kph to about 300kph, apparently to save costs.
Note: Don’t change money in this airport – the lines are long, the rates are poor and the service fee, annoying.
VERDICT: T2 is visibly better, but still not up to standards found in Hongkong or Singapore.
CONTACT: www.shairport.com/en has more details.
