Shanghai Hongqiao Airport

If you have a choice, Hongqiao is my preferred airport in Shanghai to Pudong: it being closer to town for transportation, and Terminal is new and with many facilities, also better managed than Pudong. Unfortunately most international flights, in particular intercontinental flies from Pudong. The train terminal next to it serves practically all China. It is smaller than Oudong, but for airports smaller is an advantage.

Hongqiao is the preferred airport to locals, over the bigger Putong. It is nearer town, and it connects with a train station that goes aloso to nearby cities like Nanjing. There are two terminals. T1 is old and serves some international dpartures, while T2, far apart, is modern (note that the conection between the two can be difficult, by bus, not an internal train). I rate T1 facilities a 5/10 while T2 9/10, but T2 mainly serves domestic flights, while most international flights go to PVG. If you fly to Shanghai, the choice should be clear, particularly if you need a connection. If a flight is available from both Hongqiao and Putong, I prefer Putong. It is less than 30 min to town barring traffic conditions.

The last time I used Hongqiao, in 2012, it was for a departure and my flight was delayed by three hours. This time, I only used it to arrive in Shanghai via Terminal 1. Going through immigration was fast and easy. The walk to the Metro station was a little long, but manageable. It also helped that the Metro station and Line 10 weren't crowded, unlike the station and Line 2 for Pudong Airport.

As a frequent business traveller I usually depart from T2. It's easily accessed from home and very much efficient during self-check in process especially for routes between Shanghai and Beijing Guangzhou and Shenzhen respectively. Security check normally takes less than 15 minutes at peak hours. Overall it would be better to be described as a big Plaza rather than an international airport including shopping short-break various food selection recreation and a most fashionable gallery at both departure and arrival lounge.

This is a tale of two terminals terminal 1 is now reduced to short international routes to Hong Kong Seoul and Tokyo and domestic flights operated by China's LCC Spring Air-it is old and dingy and I question why it is still in use. Terminal 2 on the other hand follows the trend in new airport design in that it is a huge shopping outlet that happens to have planes arriving and departing. Hongqaio is a multiple transport terminal having planes trains and buses all operating from the complex. Recently arrived from Qingdao and connected to a bus to the city of Sheng Ze in Jiangsu province. It is a really long walk from the arrival gate via the baggage carousel to the bus in fact it is quite a hike with limited travelators however one can stop for refreshment at one of dozens of food outlets along the way one can have Starbucks Costa KFC Ramen Noodles in fact anything that appeals to tastes to both locals or expats. Signage is good so no danger of getting lost. Shanghai Hongqaio is easily accessible from downtown by taxi or line 10 or line 2 of the subway for the budget conscious traveller-there is also a Railway station if you need to connect to a High Speed train. Terminal 2 ticks all the boxes of a modern airport large amounts of retail outlets food everywhere for all tastes sky high prices plenty of seats lots of announcements in Chinese followed by English long distances to gates although you can hire a golf buggy for 10yuan about $1.70. Great improvement over terminal 1.

Hongqiao Terminal 1 is a small and mundane airport. If arriving by Line 10 of the Metro you wouldn't think you're entering an airport. Check-in and going through immigration were quite fast. Retail establishments on the premises including restaurants are limited. If your flight is delayed as mine was and you didn't bring anything to occupy yourself you'll be bored out of your wits.

New terminal modern friendly and comfortable for passengers. Services are fast and good location - near train station. Just take in consideration that the building is very big and takes time to go from one side to another.

Terminal 2 is spacious user-friendly has a Metro Station for passengers to go to and from most parts of Shanghai. This helps in cutting down the long lines for Taxis - a major problem for people using the old Terminal (Terminal 1). Only complaint: When our Shanghai Airlines plane arrived it stopped at the opposite end of the Airport from Terminal 2. All passengers were made to get on a Bus which took another 15 minutes going along the perimeter of the Airport to get us to Terminal 2. Very unexpected and quite unacceptable for such a modern Airport.

You can see the age with this airport. Baggage area was complete chaos with very little room to stand and see if your luggage is coming through. Bathrooms were a bit scary. I would recommend making extra time going through security they were very thorough with their search and searched all the bags in our group including taking out a book and fanning through it. Not much to eat or do after you pass through security so just had instant noodles with the hot water stations located everywhere. Not the worst airport I have been in but still not the best.

I had to use Shanghai Hongqiao for a connecting flight. However although having booked both flights at the same time with the same company you have to take care of your luggage. That means you need at least an hour between your two flights as you have to go to baggage claim and check-in afterwards. I'm glad a friend had warned me otherwise I'd have lost my luggage. On top of that there were very long queues (luckily I was late enough to pass before everyone). Due to it's location Hongqiao may be a very convenient airport but next time for a connection I'll pay a bit more and use another airport.