Shanghai Hongqiao Airport began a two-month renovation project yesterday to prepare it for its first regular international flight in eight years.

 

The renovation is necessary because the airport is already running at full capacity, the airport said in a statement yesterday. The project will install new check-in counters, security areas and an arrival hall for international flights in the existing B terminal. An office building beside the terminal will be converted into a departure hall for international travelers.

 

Under an agreement signed between Japan and China last month, four daily charter flights will begin operations between Shanghai's Hongqiao and Tokyo's Haneda, both domestic airports, as early as October 8 this year. Each country will operate two flights.

 

The agreement was first reached by Premier Wen Jiabao and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo in April, in a move to forge closer Sino-Japanese relations by increasing direct commercial links between Shanghai and Tokyo.

 

Hongqiao was Shanghai's international airport until all international flights were moved to Shanghai Pudong International Airport in 1999. It has since retained only a "standby capacity" for international flights, according to the airport's Website.

 

(Shanghai Daily July 23, 2007)