Shanghaiist: Shanghai's Pudong Airport closed?

Anlong

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 01:49:45 +0800

You think the PuDong airport is poorly run? I guess you haven't flown much in the USA...

Jufin

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:21:50 +0800

PuDong airport is such a shit operaiton. The place is hell when you have to wait to board a flight. Nothing to do there, no place to eat or drink. Howeever, the worst is arriving at the shithole. Customs sucks and they could give two shits if 10,000 or more people are waiting in the customs lines. Also, why the fuck do all the people awaiting for arrivals block the tiny little exit out of baggage claim. They seem to stand right in front of the only exit creating the bottle necks of all bottle necks. PuDong airport truly sucks.

Martin

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 10:30:04 +0800

I was on a flight from Seoul, scheduled to land at 3pm. At 15.15 we were merrily circling some 80miles from Shanghai, with an announcenment from the captain that Pudong was temporarily closed for 30minutes due to military air traffic. 90min late we landed, ~16:30. After reading the above i feel lucky, i think we may have been the first plane allowed in. Certainly the immigration was empty, not a soul in the line, i was thru and on the maglev in world record time. Still 'tho, some better explainations/apologies wouldnt hurt.

Pastafarian

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 11:47:17 +0800

I wish they would have used the downtime to install some quality food & drink establishments in that fuckin airport

nanheyangrouchuan

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 10:45:30 +0800

Hangzhou bay is not a big place for a "military exercise". But Ningbo has a naval base, perhaps a sub had to surface there for an emergency?

Peter Knuss

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 08:16:02 +0800

> Beijing Olympics in 616 days. Ha Ha Ha... Check out the "Offcial Website" [sic] >> Nope, it says 'Official' :) Yeah, it says 'Official' in the main body of the web page. But it says 'Offcial' in the title bar at the very top of the page. Still, it doesn't say Olmypic, which is probably the main thing. One thing though. I thought BOCOG was a bad acronym, until I saw the 'Chinese Olympic Committee'.

liz

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 07:20:36 +0800

Phoenix Satellite Television, a Chinese-language broadcaster in Hong Kong with close ties to the Beijing government, reported that military exercises were being conducted in Hangzhou Bay, south of Shanghai.

usagi

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 06:18:42 +0800

if it's needed, then i can see why but they should arrenge financial assistance for people whose schedules or reservations had been screwed up because of this.

nanheyangrouchuan

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 02:09:17 +0800

The other possibilities could include bomb threats or a bomb was found, or someone sprinkled baby powder/anthrax around. Darn Uyghurs and Tibetans, no appreciation I tell ya.

Bob Chippens

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 02:06:08 +0800

"Beijing Olympics in 616 days. Ha ha ha... Check out the "Offcial Website" [sic]" Nope, it says 'Official' :)

Bob Chippens

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 02:04:53 +0800

Slightly fucked-up. Bu then every country has state secrets and refuses to comment. How is this different?

shanghaieye

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 01:48:25 +0800

The authorities said in your foreign countries you might arrange civil aircraft to use their space during downtimes. But in China airspace is treated by the military as their wife, and would you lend your wife out at times when you're not using them?

yu888

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 00:35:15 +0800

the best part of this story to me is the fact that they don't care what we think about it, they do it because they think its important enough.

The Blonde Swede

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 00:25:10 +0800

Can anybody imagine another major city in the world shutting down its major airport for the benefit of military exercises? I'm not talking about national emergencies here. I'm talking about military exercises. I've been through this in Guangzhou and Hong Kong numerous times, but this is a first in Shanghai. For a government that seems intent on presenting itself as first world, this seems like a step backwards, in the wrong direction, or simply off the cliff. What a joke.

usagi

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 23:47:58 +0800

hmmm, weird

JJ McSanderz

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 23:34:49 +0800

Flights suspended at Shanghai airport Staff and agencies 01 December, 2006 By ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press Writer Fri Dec 1, 6:32 AM ET SHANGHAI, China - China suspended flights at Shanghai‘s international airport for at least several hours Friday "to control air traffic volume," the city government said, refusing to elaborate. The military exercises broad authority over China‘s airspace, and flights along the southeastern coast are occasionally diverted, delayed or cancelled due to military movements in the region, which faces Taiwan. Flights to and from Pudong, to the east of the city, stopped at about 2 p.m. local time, said a city government spokesman, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

nanheyangrouchuan

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 22:23:34 +0800

Military exercise or military accident? The Nanjing military district is HQ'd in...Nanjing, along with the biggest PLAAF airbase not directly facing Taiwan.

Gravel Gerty

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 21:19:38 +0800

Beijing Olympics in 616 days. Ha ha ha... Check out the "Offcial Website" [sic]

Corwin

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 21:07:29 +0800

My wife was scheduled on KA875 this afternoon. She just started the boarding process at 20:30. The flight was supposed to leave at 16:15.

nick

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 19:40:39 +0800

I work for United Airlines at our worldwide operations center in Chicago. Our flight 835 from Chicago to Shanghai diverted earlier today to Beijing; it sat there for several hours before it was cleared to Shanghai. The only (vague) explanation we were able to get from our staff at Pudong was that the airport was closed for "air traffic control" reasons. This is certainly one of the more unusual stories we have to tell regarding our flights to China.