Shanghai Pudong Airport

Immigration and baggage delivery upon arrival reasonably smooth and swift. However Immigration was fast and polite. It took less than 5 minutes to get through and we were about 3 flights that landed at the same time. Our luggage arrived shortly after that. Same quick experience upon departure. Staff everywhere were polite. The only downside was the not-so-good shopping and dining choices. Overall a very pleasant airport to use. The MagLev train connection to the city is also a big plus.

Immigration and baggage delivery upon arrival reasonably smooth and swift. However immigration was dismal when we departed. At around 5.30 am ours was the only flight checking in so passenger level was modest. It took 45 minutes to get through immigration with ridiculous services pledge posters taunting passengers with a "20 minute service" promise.

Arrived and departed Terminal 2 long haul and how things have changed - for the better. Through Immigration in 2 minutes instead of the 45 minutes just a year ago. Also used Pudong for a return domestic flight. Again T2 and not a problem.

Minor delays at immigration bags already on carousel when we got to baggage claim minimal delay at customs and through to Land Side. Where is the Maglev - there are a few signs but few that actually point to the direction of the Maglev Station. Carried out a general sweep of the airport tried many directions long corridors chats with various cleaners etc saw more Maglev signs still confusing directions eventually found the ticket counter and the train probably took about thirty minutes. I had a plan of the airport did extensive pre-trip research and I always carry a compass and a GPS. Arrived at Longyan lucky was travelling light very long stairs no trolleys no escalator to taxi level. Best to avoid the Maglev if you have heavy cases and intend to take taxi at Longyan.

Connecting from a Lufthansa to Air New Zealand flight there is a special arrangement whereby if your baggage is checked through to your final destination and you do not leave passport control you do not require a transit visa (I believe this arrangement also includes Swiss and Virgin). By and large this was an easy process once the people who were going to process us came out the office which took about 10 minutes. I was first in the queue and it took about 5 minutes to process me so reasonably quick. The queue wasn't too long at this point but I don't know how long it takes to process everybody. Once though security the airport is a very impressive building and lounges acceptable although the food selection is a little restricted.

Were on a connecting flight from Manila to Chicago. On the Philippine Airlines flight we were told we did not have to fill in the Arrival / Departure Card - wrong they wanted the form filled in even though we were transit passengers. After walking all the way to the International Transit desk we were pointed back to the Domestic Transit entry points. No English just pointing. The most common English word was "Hello". Had to do the go from one Immigration line and then to another had to claim our baggage go to the airline ticket counter and check in again go through Immigration again two security checks before we got to the gate. In total it took 2 hours and we had 15 minutes to spare before we boarded the next flight. Wouldn't have been bad except we all had no idea where we were going everyone we asked did not speak English. For example after we claimed our bags and exited we had no idea where to next all we knew was we were outside security and mixed with the general population. We took a wild guess and went upstairs where we found the ticket counters. We went through Immigration several times. On entry they ran us through one line and then moved us to another line. One of the passengers had been moved to three different lines. Wouldn't have been bad except each officer fiddled with the documents for 5 to 10 minutes before he signaled another person to take us to another line and then we waited for the process to start over again. We had to fill in the Health Quarantine form for H1N1/SARS. The form was geared for those staying in China so we put "NA" as it related to where we were going to be in China. The officer wanted a contact number in China we looked at him as he was obviously clueless as to what was written on the page but we rattled off a random number to make him happy. We hadn't even signed or filled in most of the form as it did not apply but he did not seem to understand. We could have signed it Mickey Mouse and he would not have not known. The airport staff seemed clueless. At least at the Tokyo airports they have staff with English signs and arrows to direct the transit customers to the next step. We ran into many angered transit customers that missed connecting flights due to the chaos. The immigration process for the transit customers seems to be little more than information gathering by PRC. And for those wondering we have lived in Asia since 1993 and traveled Asia. Never had to make a connecting flight via Shanghai before though and never will again.

Fairly fast process through immigration - but had to wait for another passenger so was able to check the airport fairly well. Be aware that there are 2 terminals connected by a long walk. Food choices not so good. Departure relatively easy and fast. No major complaints.

Arrival from HKG was met with long queues at immigration. Took 1 hour to clear and then another 40 minutes taxi to hotel. Otherwise no complaints. Will try Shanghai Hongqaio tomorrow.

What a change T2 makes. I arrived around midnight from Manila and was off the plane though immigration and had my bags within half an hour of landing. Staff cold but efficient. Buses into town were a bit disorganised and there were far more passengers than seats. Departing domestically is where T2 really was much better than the old terminal which the last time I passed though (Nov 2007) was already a bit dank. The domestic pier (currently only used my Air China and Shanghai Airlines) is clean and bright. Shopping is still limited. Lots of seating with good views of the tarmac. Free wifi and places to plug in laptops near the gates. Architecture not quite as amazing as Beijing T3 but the overall layout is better. No queue for security and staff were pleasant. PVG is now on the brink of being a great airport (pity about the location though).

Some pros and cons about frequent traveling at T2. Modern and spacious reduced waiting times at immigration inspection. Very poor business lounge luggage takes often 30 min and more luggage conveyors are too short to admit luggage of a bigger plane. Taxi lines in the night always lack of taxis (waiting times for up to one hour even in winter are common). Very poor english skills of ground staff.