All international, Hong Kong and Macao flights to and from Shanghai will take off and land at Pudong International Airport as of midnight Oct. 27.

The move will make the newly-built Pudong airport in Pudong New District the sole airport in the city for international flights, and for flights to and from Hong Kong and Macao, said Wu Nianzu, vice secretary-general of the Shanghai municipal government, at a press conference Monday.

Wu said some domestic flights would also be directed to Pudong airport permanently, including those Shanghai-bound flights from some cities in northeast, central, south and east China.

At present, Hongqiao Airport, the first international airport in the city, also serves international flights.

Wu said Hongqiao Airport would retain its status as a standby international airport.

From Oct. 27, Pudong Airport is expected to handle 2,621 flights each week, and Hongqiao Airport 1,859 flights.

The change is designed to promote Pudong Airport as an aviation hub in the Asia-Pacific region, and to be more convenient for airlines, said Wu.

At present, the Pudong Airport operates well under capacity while Hongqiao is under pressure.

Pudong Airport has a designed capacity of handling 20 million passengers annually, but it carried only 6.9 million passengers last year.

Hongqiao Airport received 13.76 million passengers last year, compared with its designed capacity of 9.6 million passengers.

Shanghai has been working on projects to improve bus and train links to Pudong Airport.

( October 15, 2002)