A bustling scene at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport, where a significant increase in passenger traffic is observed. [Photo/thepaper.cn]

Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) welcomed a record number of international travelers on June 16, surpassing 100,000 passengers for the first time in four years.

This record-breaking volume included 94,000 arrivals and departures, along with 9,000 transit passengers.

The significant increase in travelers aligns with China's expanded visa-free policy, which has fueled a 240 percent year-on-year surge in foreign arrivals and departures, according to statistics from the Shanghai Airport Border Inspection Station.

Attracted by the visa-free policy, over 3 million foreign passengers have transited through Shanghai's Pudong International Airport this year, a 240 percent increase compared to the same period in 2022. The majority of these travelers come from the United States, Japan, and South Korea, primarily for tourism, business, and family visit purposes, said the Shanghai border control authority.

Outbound travel by Chinese residents has also grown rapidly. Over 4.5 million Chinese citizens have departed the country through Pudong Airport this year, with Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea being the most favored destinations.

To manage the growing passenger volume, the Shanghai Airport Border Inspection Station has implemented various measures to optimize the border crossing experience. These include allowing airlines to pre-declare passenger information for swifter processing, expanding transit passenger clearance to all manual verification booths, deploying a flexible staffing schedule based on passenger traffic flow, and encouraging online declarations for entry and exit purposes.

With the summer travel season approaching, the passenger volume is expected to increase.

Source: thepaper.cn