This is weird. Just a few weeks after we heard about the scary possiblity of a German satellite crashing down into the heart of Beijing last October, now Shanghai Daily tells of another threat from the skies! Last month around 17 flights arriving in Shanghai on January 16 were instructed not to land for fear of space debris incoming from a failed Russian Mars probe, which incidentally landed on the other side of the planet... more ›

Another day, another group of angry Chinese travellers causing a commotion somewhere in the world. This time, a group of tourists from Shanghai, Sichuan and Shenzhen staged a protest at Singapore's Changi Airport after a lengthy delay of their Hong Kong Airlines flight. more ›

"Your safety. Our responsibility." more ›

The mother from the Pudong Airport stabbing says she is currently trying to find the foreigner who stopped to help her after her son, whom she claims suffers from mental problems, stabbed her several times. A video taken from scene is now circulating widely on the Chinese internet, showing what appears to be a youngish, dark haired Caucasian man wearing an orange long-sleeved shirt and brown or grey pants. more ›

"A MAN studying abroad was detained this week after he allegedly stabbed his mother, who had come to meet him off his flight home, city police said yesterday. The victim, surnamed Gu, who had been in a coma, was still in hospital last night, although she was in a stable condition. The attack took place on Tuesday afternoon in a terminal hall at Pudong International Airport after the suspect, surnamed Wang, returned from Japan. Gu was there to pick him up, said airport police. But soon after Wang arrived, the two started to quarrel about his tuition fees at the airport. Wang suddenly took out a knife from his luggage and stabbed his mother several times, local police said yesterday. Wang was taken into custody by airport police. Wang is not wealthy and had disputes with his family about education expenses in the past, according to one of his relatives interviewed by Shanghai-based Xinmin.cn." [Shanghai Daily] more ›

The Shanghai Airport Authority announced yesterday that Shanghai Pudong International Airport has been ranked 5th in the world according to the Airports Council International (ACI) customer satisfaction ratings. Surveys found that passengers were particularly happy with the toilets and the waiting areas, but think transportation between the airport and downtown could use improvement. Beijing's Capital International Airport came in just ahead of us in 4th place. But what's more impressive is how in a few short years, Asian airports have managed to almost sweep the top ten. more ›

It's around that time of year when everyone is making resolutions - even the government is setting new goals...they're doing 5-year ones! Here in Shanghai, the jury is still out on whether organ donations can be used for transplants (among other things) and as for Beijing, their check list includes quite a few big to dos. In five years time, they're hoping to build a second international airport, rid the city of the terrible smog and traffic congestion, and become an all around more "livable" city -- though we'd like to point out that the last one sounds especially vague, kind of like those "lose weight, eat healthier" resolves. more ›

So along with the other renovations happening for the Expo, the Hongqiao Airport has gotten a little publicized, but still quite hefty, makeover as well. Terminal 2, which happens to be where Line 2 and Line 10 will drop you off on the Shanghai Metro and where the Beijing-Shanghai high speed rail link will be located, is set to open in mid-March. more ›

Those who stayed in the city for the May holiday, did it feel more crowded to you? According to Xinhua, it was - since more than 2.45 million tourists decided to make Shanghai their holiday destination. That's about 20,000 more tourists than last year. Despite the crappy weather, these intrepid travelers trekked out to downtown Puxi, the Pearl Tower and Century Park in droves. Other fun statistics: On May 1, the Shanghai railways handled over 1.27 million passengers, over 2,700 people left from Pudong International Airport on between 7 and 8:30am, and at least 50 people missed their flights because of traffic jams due to road construction. more ›

By Cindy Nawilis more ›

We wonder if the HKIA employee who took this video and uploaded it faced any disciplinary actions.
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At the side of the Maglev station, between the two terminals, three new restaurants are opening at Pudong Airport on August 10 (Sunday). There is a new KFC (for those who can't walk 5 meters to the existing branch), a Pizza Hut, and a Chinese fast-food joint. Also opening soon is a branch of the noodle chain that features Bruce Lee wearing the "Game Of Death" yellow tracksuit as their logo (Note to self: find out name of that restaurant!). more ›

Frustration at mysterious delays and abrupt diversions and cancellations have at times boiled over into violence at Chinese airports, with passengers trying to storm grounded aircraft and police having to be brought in to keep the peace. Deputy head of the civil aviation regulator, Yang Guoqing said authorities will punish airlines whose passengers refuse to disembark or misbehave in protest over problems like delayed flights. "We will severely punish airlines which experience aircraft occupations and other incidents as a result of service reasons which originate with the airline," Yang told a news conference. "These measures include cancelling slots at corresponding busy airports."Customers must also be kept better informed about delays, especially those caused by bad weather, a big issue in China. more ›

Chris Horton of GoKunming informs us of another abnormal incident involving a bus in Kunming Monday evening. No reports of any bomb or explosive device were made, but eyewitnesses say they heard a "loud explosion-like sound", as rumours of another explosion spread like wildfire via text message. Meanwhile, in a separate incident at the Kunming airport, several irate passengers "clashed with airport police, smashing computers, desks and other items". more ›

This just in from a reader tip. Via the easternmiles.com newsletter: more ›

"Nearly 150 Indian medical students are stranded in airports and other places in China after discovering that the air tickets they bought were fake. A group of students are stuck at the Pudong airport in Shanghai. The alleged fraud came to light after two air carriers -- Emirates and Malaysia Airlines -- refused to accept the e-tickets issued to the students when they went to board the flights between June 29 and July 11. The affected students belong to various universities like Nanjing, Suzhou and Chong Qing, which are hundreds of kilometres away from each other." [Source] more ›

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. more ›

From yesterday until April 29th, this is the list of airlines which will use the new Terminal 2 at Pudong: more ›

Like we told you, the new Terminal at Pudong Airport opened smoothly* yesterday morning, bringing relief to crowded Terminal 1 and a whole stack of new shopping and eating options to those flying from the new building. more ›

Photo from gruntzooki more ›

From Shanghai Daily:

SHANGHAI issued an orange alert for heavy fog this morning. It was the first orange fog warning since winter began early this month. more ›