Originally Posted by
moondog
How does nationality come into play? If the transit desks are open or you have an onward boarding pass, airside transit is probably possible for all passports. If not, entering China is unavoidable, even for Chinese citizens.
Yes, if transit tasks are open, it's easy for everyone.
If they're closed, as you say, it's entry into China. TWOV still isn't allowed for all Nationals, and even the 24hrs TWOV takes a while to get granted as they need to check, need to fill out the TWOV form, and so on (and if I'm not mistaken, the airline should pre-register any pax who wants to do TWOV) - for Nationals not needing a visa (Germany, Singapore, etc.) you basically walk in, and you're through.
Since OP is Swiss, there is some chance he'll be able to walk in by Mid March (I suspect visa-free entry for Swiss nationals becomes published sometime in the next couple weeks) - if that happens, he'll definitely have one thing less to worry.
The problem about having 2 tickets in transit is that I doubt he can get his boarding pass beforehand, so he'll show up in Shanghai with just a printout / electronic copy of his checkin confirmation at best, but not a boarding pass. China still pretty much requires a physical boarding pass, you know, they gotta stamp it
So, if transfer desks are open AND can provide him with a proper boarding pass, all good. If not: Landside it is. And with just 2.5hrs in transit, that means he'll have 1.5hrs to pass immigration and get to the checkin desk, assuming on-time arrival. (I didn't check when ANA closes it's checkin in PVG, but would assume it's 1 hour before departure)
I've never had to wait longer than 30min in PVG for immigration in the past, when I held a Visa, but with TWOV, time can add up. It should definitely be possible to pass immigration with applying to TWOV, but I'd consider that at least a bit risky.
If he doesn't need TWOV, on the other hand, he just goes straight into the regular immigration queue.
Also, assuming his incoming flight is delayed by 1 hour (and he can't transit airside), he might have to book a new flight out of China on the spot as they might feel it's "too tight" to use TWOV as his original flight can't be reached, or whatever. If he's able to walk into China without TWOV/Visa, well, he might still make it. (I'd definitely ask to jump the queue in such situation, if all I need is a quick glance over my passport and then rush to the checkin again..)
So yes, his Nationality (and, in his case, the timely implementation of visa-free entrance for Swiss citizen) play a rather big role.