China Eastern Shanghai to Hong Kong - An Empty Pudong Satellite Terminal
Aug 10, 2023, 9:54 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: HKG
Posts: 1,506
China Eastern Shanghai to Hong Kong - An Empty Pudong Satellite Terminal
With a very bitter taste from waiting 1.5 hours in line to check-in a few days earlier in Hong Kong since online services were not available, I got to the airport quite early, almost 2 hours before departure, to avoid any unpleasant surprises. That's because online check-in didnt work for this flight either.
After an hour in the car from Puxi, I reached the Terminal 1 departures drop-off noticing most doors were closed. After walking for a bit, I found an opening where I was subject to a swab check and X-ray scan to enter the terminal. There was no document check to verify I had a ticket to go out though.
Vastly different from Hong Kong, there wasn't much of a crowd and only a few people ahead of me to check in. It took a bit of time to get processed though, as my luggage had to go through an initial scan behind the agent, which failed and I had to go to the office next door to find out why. I could only get my boarding pass once the scan has passed. Apparently, I had left my camera's lithium-ion battery in my checked bag, which tripped up the machine.
With a lot of time left on my hands, I explored a bit the new changes land-side. Terminal 1 is the dingy terminal, but seemed a bit nicer now probably because it's quite empty today.
Hong Kong flights use the international departures route. There was a short line for security, which was quite strict because after going through the scanner, each person still got a detailed detector sweep from head to toe.
Air-side, there was a cafe open but nothing of the menu irked my interest. There were some souvenir shops selling their famous white rabbit candy and teas but otherwise the terminal was quiet.
There aren't many international departures for the rest of the day, filling only 1 monitor. This looked like Hong Kong last year.
Dead ... all dead.
I looked around a bit and got confused where is gate G115. After a few rounds, I finally spotted an escalator which leads to a train downstairs. A new satellite terminal opened in 2019 with 90 boarding bridges that will handle 60-70% of the airport's traffic.
Upstairs, the new building looked sleek but also empty, with some luxury shops but I couldn't spot the eateries.
After a grand tour of this empty terminal, I looked for my gate at the end of the pier. They were boarding already and I didn't see a crowd at the gate. This afternoon's flight is on a small A321, tiny compared to the A330 for my inbound, but widebodies are rare out of Pudong to Hong Kong.
Next up ... boarding.
More photos on my website : https://www.globalphotos.org/mu505.htm and https://www.globalphotos.org/shanghai-airport.htm
After an hour in the car from Puxi, I reached the Terminal 1 departures drop-off noticing most doors were closed. After walking for a bit, I found an opening where I was subject to a swab check and X-ray scan to enter the terminal. There was no document check to verify I had a ticket to go out though.
Vastly different from Hong Kong, there wasn't much of a crowd and only a few people ahead of me to check in. It took a bit of time to get processed though, as my luggage had to go through an initial scan behind the agent, which failed and I had to go to the office next door to find out why. I could only get my boarding pass once the scan has passed. Apparently, I had left my camera's lithium-ion battery in my checked bag, which tripped up the machine.
With a lot of time left on my hands, I explored a bit the new changes land-side. Terminal 1 is the dingy terminal, but seemed a bit nicer now probably because it's quite empty today.
Hong Kong flights use the international departures route. There was a short line for security, which was quite strict because after going through the scanner, each person still got a detailed detector sweep from head to toe.
Air-side, there was a cafe open but nothing of the menu irked my interest. There were some souvenir shops selling their famous white rabbit candy and teas but otherwise the terminal was quiet.
There aren't many international departures for the rest of the day, filling only 1 monitor. This looked like Hong Kong last year.
Dead ... all dead.
I looked around a bit and got confused where is gate G115. After a few rounds, I finally spotted an escalator which leads to a train downstairs. A new satellite terminal opened in 2019 with 90 boarding bridges that will handle 60-70% of the airport's traffic.
Upstairs, the new building looked sleek but also empty, with some luxury shops but I couldn't spot the eateries.
After a grand tour of this empty terminal, I looked for my gate at the end of the pier. They were boarding already and I didn't see a crowd at the gate. This afternoon's flight is on a small A321, tiny compared to the A330 for my inbound, but widebodies are rare out of Pudong to Hong Kong.
Next up ... boarding.
More photos on my website : https://www.globalphotos.org/mu505.htm and https://www.globalphotos.org/shanghai-airport.htm
Sep 9, 2023, 2:58 pm
#2
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,057
Thanks for sharing your MU experience. Your sentiments are in line with my own. But, I'm wondering why you didn't fly out of SHA instead of PVG. You would have spared yourself of the trek to PVG and SHA-T1 is super efficient (even, if old).
Sep 11, 2023, 8:49 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: HKG
Posts: 1,506
I wanted a late afternoon departure and they ran a few more flights out of Pudong with nothing from Hongqiao later in the day. I recall even before the pandemic, there was barely anything going to SHA, although they're still way below pre-pandemic frequencies from PVG.
Sep 11, 2023, 9:03 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: HKG
Posts: 1,506
I was luckily able to switch to a window seat near the back of the plane at check-in. With an almost full load, we pushed back at 4:15pm, a few minutes ahead of schedule, and started rolling down the runway at 4:39pm. Behind the wing this time, I enjoyed taking off into the smoggy sky. Pudong is quite far from the city so I had no hope of spotting the skyline this time.
Similar to the inbound, this plane doesn't have seatback TV screens.
The massive Donghai Bridge was the country's first sea-crossing structure when it was built in 2005. It stretches over 32km linking with the Yangshan deep water port.
The crew announced at 5:05pm we've reached cruise. Although above the clouds, the first half of the flight was quite bumpy but the crew was still able to serve drinks and a hot meal. That sapped my appetite a bit so I opted for a noodle dish instead of rice, hoping it's a lighter late lunch.
The main was quite disguisting, a bit spicy and oily. So I finished the appetizer and fruits instead. Beneath the bread is a Lotus biscoff, a nice touch.
We were each given a bottle of water and could also order separate drinks for the meal as well.
The skies calmed down a bit eventually and at 6:10pm, an announcement came we would land at 6:45pm, ahead of schedule, and the lavatories would close in 10 minutes. They also reminded us not to bring airplane food off as well.
It was a bit close to sunset and with clouds in the way, I couldn't spot too much of the city as we made final approach from the east, the scenic route.
I noticed we were quite close to the Gold Coast in the final seconds before touching down, which was a different flight path. It dawned on me we could be landing on the new 3rd runway, my first time.
We landed at 6:42pm and it was a very long taxi to the terminal, taking 14 minutes to the North Satellite, home to the new skybridge connection. I wasn't able to go up to take a look for my departure earlier in the week but now I'm forced to use it for arrivals.
I decided to slowly take my time and try to understand how to walk all the way to immigration with this new bridge. We first had to head downstairs to where the buses used to depart to the terminal. After crossing the length of the terminal, there were a few escalators up to the skybridge.
The exit was a bit unsuspecting though.
Since locals can use the kiosk with our ID cards and fingerprints, immigration was quick and by the time I reached the baggage belt, the sign said all bags have already arrived. That was 7:23pm, 27 minutes after the plane parked at the gate. My legs were quite tired by now with all that walking, going downstairs, and upstairs, and downstairs from the satellite terminal. I suppose having the bridge hasn't made the journey easier than juggling for the buses in the past.
I suppose it's unfair to compare China Eastern against Cathay because the price difference is substantial. However, I would not want to cope with lack of online check-in as the reason why I can save a lot of money. For a 2 hour flight, I can live with less food and in-flight entertainment. The actual flights were fine. Staff were attentive and tried to make the journey comfortable.
More photos on my website : https://www.globalphotos.org/mu505.htm
Similar to the inbound, this plane doesn't have seatback TV screens.
The massive Donghai Bridge was the country's first sea-crossing structure when it was built in 2005. It stretches over 32km linking with the Yangshan deep water port.
The crew announced at 5:05pm we've reached cruise. Although above the clouds, the first half of the flight was quite bumpy but the crew was still able to serve drinks and a hot meal. That sapped my appetite a bit so I opted for a noodle dish instead of rice, hoping it's a lighter late lunch.
The main was quite disguisting, a bit spicy and oily. So I finished the appetizer and fruits instead. Beneath the bread is a Lotus biscoff, a nice touch.
We were each given a bottle of water and could also order separate drinks for the meal as well.
The skies calmed down a bit eventually and at 6:10pm, an announcement came we would land at 6:45pm, ahead of schedule, and the lavatories would close in 10 minutes. They also reminded us not to bring airplane food off as well.
It was a bit close to sunset and with clouds in the way, I couldn't spot too much of the city as we made final approach from the east, the scenic route.
I noticed we were quite close to the Gold Coast in the final seconds before touching down, which was a different flight path. It dawned on me we could be landing on the new 3rd runway, my first time.
We landed at 6:42pm and it was a very long taxi to the terminal, taking 14 minutes to the North Satellite, home to the new skybridge connection. I wasn't able to go up to take a look for my departure earlier in the week but now I'm forced to use it for arrivals.
I decided to slowly take my time and try to understand how to walk all the way to immigration with this new bridge. We first had to head downstairs to where the buses used to depart to the terminal. After crossing the length of the terminal, there were a few escalators up to the skybridge.
The exit was a bit unsuspecting though.
Since locals can use the kiosk with our ID cards and fingerprints, immigration was quick and by the time I reached the baggage belt, the sign said all bags have already arrived. That was 7:23pm, 27 minutes after the plane parked at the gate. My legs were quite tired by now with all that walking, going downstairs, and upstairs, and downstairs from the satellite terminal. I suppose having the bridge hasn't made the journey easier than juggling for the buses in the past.
I suppose it's unfair to compare China Eastern against Cathay because the price difference is substantial. However, I would not want to cope with lack of online check-in as the reason why I can save a lot of money. For a 2 hour flight, I can live with less food and in-flight entertainment. The actual flights were fine. Staff were attentive and tried to make the journey comfortable.
More photos on my website : https://www.globalphotos.org/mu505.htm
Sep 11, 2023, 9:04 am
#5
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,057
I wanted a late afternoon departure and they ran a few more flights out of Pudong with nothing from Hongqiao later in the day. I recall even before the pandemic, there was barely anything going to SHA, although they're still way below pre-pandemic frequencies from PVG.