China's second largest air terminal building conducted lately a dummy operation which is prepared for its real operations later this month.
The Shanghai Pudong International Airport invited about 1,300 people to perform like passengers who checked in their luggages at departures, passed through security checks, boarded on airplanes and claimed their luggages at arrivals, in order to test function and operation of its newly-built Terminal 2, which is the second largest in floor space to the Beijing International Airport Terminal 3.
Shanghai built the new terminal catering to continuous growth of passenger and cargo flows in and out of the most populous city in China's east coast. The Beijing Olympics in August and the Shanghai World Expo 2010 will lead to new tides of air transportation.
Terminal 2 is expected to be in use on March 26, which is the same date to when the Beijing International Airport Terminal 3 opens itself to the full function.
An official with the Pudong Airport said the new terminal was designed to transport 40 million passengers annually and its tarmac could be used for taking-off and landing of the super heavy Airbus 380.
Passengers could easily shuttle between terminal 1 and 2 in the airport. Besides Pudong, Shanghai also has a downtown airport named Hongqiao.
(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2008)