Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) Spotting Guide

Full Name:
Shanghai Pudong International Airport
IATA: PVG
ICAO: OMDB

Runways:
17L/35R 4000 m Concrete
16R/34L 3800 m Concrete
17R/35L 3400 m Concrete
16L/34R 3800 m Concrete
15/33 3400 m Concrete

Statistics (2018)
Passengers: 74.006 mln
Aircraft Operations: 504 794

Hub for
Air China
China Eastern Airlines
China Southern Airlines
Juneao Airlines
Shanghai Airlines
Spring Airlines
Cargo:
China Carg Airlines
China Southern Cargo
DHL Aviation
FedEx Express
UPS Airlines
Suparna Airlines

Airlines
Aeroflot
Air Canada
Air China
Air France
Air India
Air Koryo
Air Macau
Air Mauritius
Air New Zealand
AirAsia X
All Nippon Airways
American Airlines
Asiana Airlines
Austrian Airlines
Beijing Capital Airlines
British Airways
Cambodia Angkor Air
Cathay Dragon
Cathay Pacific
Cebu Pacific
Chengdu Airlines
China Airlines
China Eastern Airlines
China Southern Airlines
China Southern Airlines
China United Airlines
Chongqing Airlines
Dalian Airlines
Delta Air Lines
Donghai Airlines
Eastar Jet
Emirates
Ethiopian Airlines
Etihad Airways
EVA Air
Finnair
Fuzhou Airlines
Garuda Indonesia
Hainan Airlines
Hebei Airlines
Hong Kong Airlines
Iberia
Japan Airlines
Jetstar Japan
Jin Air
Juneyao Airlines
KLM
Korean Air
Kunming Airlines
Lao Airlines
Lion Air
Lucky Air
Lufthansa
Mahan Air
Malaysia Airlines
NokScoot
PAL Express
Peach
Philippine Airlines
Philippines AirAsia
Qantas
Qatar Airways
Qingdao Airlines
Royal Brunei Airlines
S7 Airlines
Scandinavian Airlines
Shandong Airlines
Shanghai Airlines
Shenzhen Airlines
Sichuan Airlines
Singapore Airlines
Sky Angkor Airlines
Spring Airlines
Spring Airlines Japan
SriLankan Airlines
Sriwijaya Air
Suparna Airlines
Swiss International Air Lines
T’way Air
Thai AirAsia X
Thai Airways
Thai Lion Air
Tianjin Airlines
Turkish Airlines
United Airlines
Vietnam Airlines
Virgin Atlantic
West Air
XiamenAir

Cargo
AeroLogic
AirBridgeCargo
Air China Cargo
Air Hong Kong
ANA Cargo
Asiana Cargo
ASL Airlines Belgium
Atlas Air
Cargolux
Cathay Pacific Cargo
China Airlines Cargo
China Cargo Airlines
China Postal Airlines
China Southern Cargo
Emirates SkyCargo
Ethiopian Airlines Cargo
Etihad Cargo
EVA Air Cargo
FedEx Express
Hong Kong Airlines Cargo
Iran Air Cargo
Kalitta Air
Korean Air Cargo
Lufthansa Cargo
MASkargo
MNG Airlines
National Airlines (N8)
Nippon Cargo Airlines
Polar Air Cargo
Qantas Cargo
Qatar Airways Cargo
Saudia Cargo
SF Airlines
Singapore Airlines Cargo
Silk Way Airlines
Southern Air
Suparna Airlines
Turkish Airlines
UPS Airlines
Volga-Dnepr Airlines

Summary
Pudong is the major international airport in Shanghai Airport. Second city’s airport is Shanghai Hongqiao mainly serves local and regional flights. Pudong is named after the neighborhood where it is located. Airport is situated on the south bank of the Yangtze River estuary, 30 km east of the city center and is connected to city and Hongqiao Airport by express train and metro. Pudong is 8th busiest airport in the World, third busiest airport in China (after Beijing Capital and Hong Kong Airport), and biggest international hub in mainland China. More than 100 airlines including many Chinese passengers’ operators are present in PVG. Major airlines in PVG are China Eastern, China Airlines, Juneyao Airlines and Shanghai Airlines. Many other Chinese air carriers, lot of airlines from South-East Asia and some major international airlines from other parts of the World are flying to/from Pudong. Airport also hosted a lot of cargo operators.
Pudong has 5 parallel runways and 3 passenger terminals. The huge area of the airport and the division of traffic into many runways make the spotting in Pudong quite difficult. Best spotting positions are located within the terminals and view from them is limited.

History
1997: Construction of the new Shanghai airport begun to meet the growing demand of the air traffic to the megapolis.
1999: Airport opened with one runway (17L/35R).
2005: Second runway was built.
2008: Third runway and Terminal 2 were built for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.
2015: Fourth (16L/34R) and fifth (15/33) runways were opened along with a new traffic tower.
2015: Construction of a new southern Terminal 3 composed of two halls, S1 and S2, started.
2019: S1 satellite of T3 is opened.

Terminals
Pudong International Airport has three terminals. Terminal 1, opened in 1999, has 28 gates (includin3 13 double-decker gates) and a capacity of 20 million passengers per year. Terminal 2 on the eastern side of the airport, opened in 2015, is capable to handle 60 million passengers per year. Terminal 3, or satellite terminal is still under construction (as of December 2019). It will handle 38 million passenger, wil have two halls S1 and S2 and 83 gates. S1 was opened in September 2019.

Runway usage
Five parallel runways are used simultaneously for takeoffs and landings. The directions of arrivals and departures varies.

Spotting locations

1. Terminal 2 southern windows
31.151426, 121.805069
Landsise zone in the Departure level of T2 has big windows on both southern and northern sides. From the southern side a taxiway between T1 and T2 can be visible in the long distance and in very restricted angle. Parking lots in the south-western area of T1, used mainly by Juneyao Airlines fleet, are very close to windows. Small area between the southern part of T2 and southern driveway where there are few meters of pavement without net can also be used for window-free spotting with the same view.

2. Terminal 2 northern windows
31.154902, 121.803686
Northern part of the Departure level in T2 has the same big windows as in the southern side, but only few parking lots in the north-eastern Part of T2 are visible from there.

3. Terminal 2 International Departures
31.153809, 121.806397
The International Departures Hall in T2 beyond the security check (airside zone available only for passengers with the boarding pass) has big glass windows facing apron, parking lots in the eastern part of T2 and runways to the east of T2.

4. Haitian East 2nd Road
31.175941, 121.802691
The position is on the small street in the industrial zone. Only afternoon landings to 16 R/L can be pictured from there. The location is accessible by foot from metro line 2 Haitiansan Road Station.

5. Parking lot on the corner of Anhang Rd and Haitian 2nd Rd
31.170980, 121.786270
The spot is located on the corner of Anhang Road and Haitian 2nd Road. Arrivals on Runway 17 can be photographed from there. To get to the spot take a walk from metro line 2 Haitiansan Road Station.
Location 1 Album