Pudong Airport ends price gouging

Frequent travellers such as grade B Shanghainese men should be painfully aware that airports the world over (LAX, we're looking at you) love to gouge their guests with prices inflated above those in the city.

News that the Shanghai Airport is clamping down on this practice should then come as a relief. Shadowing a promise by the Beijing's airport to keep prices low at the new Capital Airport's new Terminal 3, the Pudong Airport Authority has negotiated with airport retailers to drop the price of food and many other products by 25%. The agreement still leaves airport tenants some wiggle room:

The airport will adjust the prices of bottom-level restaurants to match those at the city’s South Railway Station, Zhongshan Park Metro Station and traffic hubs, he said.

Mid-level restaurants will match prices according to those in downtown areas.

The price of high-level restaurants will be required to be kept in line with those at four-star hotels.

Now if they could just pull a Hongqiao and convince Element Fresh to open up shop (or do like Beijing's T3 and bring back Kenny Rogers Roasters), we might actually look forward to eating at the airport.

Photo by memorinz on Flickr.