6 Chinese Airports Included in VariFlight’s Airport Connectivity Index

6 Chinese Airports Included in VariFlight’s Airport Connectivity Index
Aug 26, 2016 By eChinacities.com

Editor’s Note: Airports in China’s major cities have become huge international hubs over the past two decades. Six of China’s airports were recently listed as having the best connectivity in the world. This means that it is relatively easy in China to transfer domestically or internationally in one of China’s major airports.

VariFlight, an agency that collects and analyzes data on flights and airports recently issued the “Airport Connectivity Index” which evaluates airports as transit hubs. In July, Beijing Capital, Shanghai Pudong, Guangzhou Baiyun, Hong Kong, Kunming, and Shanghai Hongqiao were listed amongst the top 50 airports in the world for connectivity.

How Is Connectivity Measured?

The index measures the ease of transferring between two flights at a particular airport. Airports should have a clear and easy way for passengers to transfer from one flight to another.

For its 2016 “Airport Connectivity Index,” VariFlight looked at which airports have the shortest transit times and longest transit times between flights. Airports with shorter transit times are higher on the list.

 How China Stacks Up

Airport in the United States occupied 21 of the top 50 spots. American airports were also the top three for airport connectivity. China has six airports in the top 50. Beijing Capital Airport is ranked the highest at 21, with a connectivity index of 173. Shanghai Pudong is ranked number 34, with an index of 541.

According to data released by the Shanghai Airport Group, Shanghai Pudong Airport served 6 million passengers in 2016. More than 16,000 passengers transferred flights in Shanghai Pudong every day. This is more transfer passengers than in any other airport in China.

  “Mainland tourists who fly internationally often first stop at Shanghai Pudong. The airport also serves foreign tourists traveling to and from Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea. We estimate that passengers with layovers at Shanghai Pudong will spend money in the airport or even in the city,” said a China Eastern spokesperson.

How Can China Improve?

However, Chinese airports could still take a few steps to make transfers, especially international transfers, more smooth. “There is a lack of helpful services, especially for domestic transfers. Passengers often do not receive transmit information in a timely manner. They often need to go a long way to get to their new gate. Shanghai Pudong should implement these strategies to make domestic and international transfers easier and look to airports like South Korea’s Incheon International Airport which is able to accommodate a higher number of transit passenger than Shanghai Pudong.”

Source: The Paper 

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Keywords: airport connectivity index Shanghai Pudong airport

7 Comments

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tanbank34

its China

Aug 26, 2016 18:49 Report Abuse

Englteachted

This is something that I love in China. Free to use baggage trollys, free internet, and multiple lines. In New York (don't exactly remember if it was Laguardia or JFK) everyone was funneled into 1 fucking line because they're too damn cheap to hire enough workers. Same in Dallas because they only had 1 body scan machine.

Aug 26, 2016 13:35 Report Abuse

Karajorma

Depends on the airport. Last week I spent more than 30 minutes trying to pass through transfer security at Guangzhou airport. Admittedly they did have all their desks open but 5 desks is really not enough for the amount of passengers they had. WiFi can also be an issue since they require sending you an SMS. If you can't receive one for some reason (no roaming in China, no power on the phone, etc) then you can't use it. That said, I do tend to agree with you that there are a lot of things Chinese airports are getting right (perhaps cause most of them are new. I know Kunming airport is only a few years old). Even after waiting in line I still rate Guangzhou airport above Amsterdam's airport (Seriously, that is one of the worst designed airports it's ever been my misfortune to fly through!)

Aug 27, 2016 12:45 Report Abuse

LastTargarean

Worst U.S. airports versus best in China. Do you compare your tap water to Flint's too?

Aug 29, 2016 14:19 Report Abuse

LastTargarean

100% of my multiple flights through Beijing airport have been delayed on takeoff. I guess sitting on the tarmac for 90 minutes and missing a connection isn't part of the metric here.

Aug 26, 2016 11:05 Report Abuse

Karajorma

Usually that's not the fault of the airport though. It's caused by China not opening up enough air corridors.

Aug 27, 2016 12:11 Report Abuse

retiredinchina

Let's start with something simple, like, I don't know, maybe, arrival and departures being on time.

Aug 26, 2016 09:30 Report Abuse