UPS and the Shanghai Airport Authority have signed an agreeement to construct a UPS International Air Hub at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai.

The UPS International Air Hub, which is scheduled to open in 2008, will be the first constructed by a US carrier. It is important because of its built-in set of connections. It will link China via Shanghai to UPS’s international network. Then, further, it will also connect points served in China by UPS through a dedicated service provided by Yangtze River Express, a Chinese all-cargo airline.

These agreements are a direct result of the Agreement on Sino-US Civil Aviation Transportation Air Services signed by the Chinese and US governments in July 2004.

UPS is calling the air hub ‘a significant step in making the Shanghai Airport an international cargo hub, promoting the development of the Shanghai transportation center, and upgrading the service functions of the city of Shanghai.’

Under the 2004 Air Services agreement, UPS will find it easier to expand its international and Chinese networks in the future. Over the past five years, UPS has invested approximately $600 million in China.

When the hub opens, it will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and UPS will increase its capacity into Shanghai by ‘up-sizing’ aircraft from the current MD-11s to Boeing 747-400s.
Source: Manufacturer

A senior official of the regional aviation authority said there could be a third general aviation airport for Shanghai by 2010.

Guo Youhu, vice director of the East China branch of the General Administration of Civil Aviation, said Shanghai should have five to six general aviation airports as an international metropolis. He said this when the branch approved the establishment of the city’s first general aviation company.

He said the existing two general aviation airports can’t fulfill the city’s demands.

The way it works at the moment is Gaodong Airport is China’s first helicopter base for sea rescue and is close to Pudong International Airport (seen above), and Longhua Airport is an emergency landing site for rescue work, police patrols, and fire-fighting operations to the southwest of the city. Another general aviation airport seems like a sound idea.
Source: China Daily