Shanghai Daily - 17-Jan-2008

Shanghai's Pudong International Airport will open its second terminal at the end of March, according to Zhang Qing, the person in charge of construction, Shanghai Morning Post reported on Wednesday.

The building will boost the annual capacity of the airport to 60 million passengers, the report cited Zhang as saying.

Pudong and Hongqiao Airport, the city's two airports, handled 51.57 million passengers last year, an increase of 11.8 percent from a year before.

The building's design includes 138 large circular windows on the ceiling to be the nation's first terminal that uses natural light as its main lighting source, according to the report.

The building is the same shape as the old one and together they appear like flying wings.

Construction of the building was finished on December 20.

A third terminal will be built by 2015 to meet rising air travel demand, a previous report said, citing Wu Nianzu, chairman of the Shanghai Airport Authority.

The expansion will increase the capacity of the airport to 80 million passengers a year, the report added.