Shanghai Pudong Airport

T2 departure Emirates. Arrived rather early so had a lovely meal in the restaurant on the first floor. The airport is huge and at the time I was there fairly empty which accentuated the feeling of space and calm. Queues for checkin even for First and Business were awful- about 25 minutes- and nobody seemed to be in charge. I was annoyed because I had only hand luggage and had checked in online but still had to queue. Immigration etc very fast and friendly. Business class lounge (not dedicated) was not great- just a few reasonable chairs on a terrace with a small selection of food

Arrived at T1 from Hong Kong. I was expecting long lines for immigration but they were short. Baggage came out quickly and the bathrooms spotless. During the return flight back to Hong Kong check-in was quick along with immigration. There were many shops selling traditional Chinese goods - a great airport but far from the likes of Hong Kong.

T2 is a similar layout to T1 but on a grander scale. There are toilets on both levels (hooray) and large areas for waiting by the check-in desks etc. However they have messed up a bit by putting the main departures board directly in front of one of the entrance doors. This will cause no end of crowding around that particular entrance as everyone scrambles to find their flight. The building itself is extremely impressive.

Arrived into Pu Dong at about 2145 from Singapore. Customs was a breeze they barely glanced at my passport and visa. The airport seems tired and depressing. Apart from the signage there is nothing to indicate that you are in China no decorations or travel posters. The 1970s decor doesn't add much to the airport and there seem to be huge distances between arrival gate and exiting the airport.

If you hold a foreign passport the lines move pretty quickly. Although some lines lead to two immigration officers and it's hard sometimes to spot the second one. Once you clear customs it's like walking in downtown Shanghai where so many people are walking back and forth and many are holding up different signs waiting for arriving passengers! Information Service Booth clerk not very helpful. As for departing from Pudong there are no self-check in systems (I was flying UA to Chicago) and economy line-up is SO long and many people didn't realize they had to fill in departure cards to be given to Immigration and Customs. After passing through security check there are some shops/restaurants but look closely: many of them are exactly the same (they just have multiple store fronts through out the waiting area). No fast food places only expensive oriental cuisine. Whoever designed this airport must have some kind of weird imagination because who would ever put washrooms at a level below the waiting area? The washrooms were pretty clean. I just hope the T2 that is scheduled to open in March 2008 is going to be much more user friendly than the current T1.

Here's a tip for going through immigration at PVG. Some of the queues feed to one agent while other lines feed into two agents. The latter moves faster. For example the line at the far left tends to move faster because it goes to two counters. The problem with this is that since you are in China the queues tend to be a mess and you may find yourself being squeezed in another direction.

Took taxi from Pudong hotel (Shangri-La) to the Maglev train and enjoyed the seven-minute ride to the airport. A novelty at best since it is a long walk from the airport Maglev station to the check in area at the airport. Long lines at economy class check in for AA flight to ORD. Confusing and inefficient security process. Once past security there are very few food choices especially if you want to buy something to eat on board the flight. The airport itself is beautifully designed but lacks the typical international signage to help non-Chinese travelers find there way around. A far cry from the efficiencies of HKG.

Arriving in Pudong is all about timing - I arrived inPudong recently from Singapore at 06:15 am and was through immigration got my bags through customs picked up my driver and in my hotel room on the other side of town (near Hongqaio airport) by 07:45 am. But if you arrive late afternoon or at night forget it - you are there for hours. Similarly if you are departing First or Business class takes no time at all but if you're flying economy to check in takes hours. Business or First check in staff would rather die than check in an economy class passenger. This is also the same at Hongqaio airport.

I have been to Pudong Airport twice in the last year. the first time was when I was flying to HKG from YVR on MU and had to transfer in PVG. I was surprised how far I had to travel from the gate to the transfer counter since PVG is MU home base. Thank goodness for the moving walkways. MU groundstaff at the transfer counter were courteous and helpful in assisting me. As were the customs staff when we had to pass security. Although washrooms were clearly marked and locations were adequate I didnt appreciate having to either go down stairs or take the lift to access them - nor the fact the smoking lounges were located next to them. The second time using Pudong I found taking the Maglev enjoyable although accessing the Station in Pudong is annoying having to take the subway first to LongYang. Signage in the airport was not as visible or as well marked as HKG. However I had no complaints with the shops or services offered at PVG.

Given Shanghai's status as the most modern city in Asia and one of the leading cities in the world the airport is one of the worst big city airports in the world. Like myself I arrive here either from Hong kong Singapore or Beijing and compared to those its in the 5th league . Wait times for customs is atrocious and then if you are unlucky enough to have arrived at a busy time you will wait a long time for a taxi as well. The last time I went thru was 2 weeks ago; door to door from Hong Kong - 7 hours! This included 80mins wait for customs clearance 65 minutes for baggage claim (amazing took 145 minutes to get baggage from aircraft onto the belt!) 70 minutes for taxi! In comparison going the other way took 3.45 hours! Why the bosses of Shanghai put up with it is another story as they all pass thru VIP so are probably detached in their thinking about it. Other than wait times the architecture is rather cold the masonry is falling off at the toilets and corners needs painting needs to have a major make over.