The Shanghai Pudong International Airport is a major aviation hub in Asia. Pudong airport is organized around two main passenger terminals, which are flanked by three parallel runways. The current airport master plan calls for the building of a third passenger terminal, a satellite terminal and two additional runways by 2015, raising its capacity from the current 60 million passengers annually to 80 million, along with the ability to handle six million tons of air freight.
The airport is located about 30 kilometers, or 18.6 miles, from the downtown area and has ample transportation options into the city, including buses, taxis and the Maglev high-speed train. Ten airport bus lines handle transfers from Pudong to the city center, and the Maglev train departs every day from 6:45 a.m. to 9:40 p.m., every 15 to 20 minutes. The subway line requires a series of transfers so is not recommended for those who don’t speak or read Chinese. A taxi costs approximately $22 from the airport to People’s Square, the center of Shanghai, and the trip takes approximately 50 minutes.