Shanghai Pudong named best-connected airport in Asia-Pacific — ECNS
Shanghai Pudong International Airport in China ranked first in air connectivity among airports in the Asia-Pacific region in 2025. It also received recognition for the largest improvement in connectivity, which increased by 32%, ECNS reports, citing a report by Airports Council International Asia-Pacific & Middle East.
New destinations
By the end of 2025, the airport had added medium- and long-haul routes to Belgrade, Casablanca, Geneva, Dublin and Tbilisi. New Asian destinations include Shymkent, Almaty, Tashkent and Ulaanbaatar.
Shanghai Pudong serves 291 destinations in 53 countries. According to ECNS, this is a record number of countries to which the airport has connections.
Passenger traffic and transit
In 2025, the airport served 84.99 million passengers and handled 4.09 million tonnes of cargo and mail. Transit passengers accounted for 16.2%.
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On September 4, the airport became the first in China to serve more than 25 million inbound and outbound passengers since the start of the year. This milestone was reached six days earlier than in the previous year. More than 2.8 million passengers used the 24-hour visa-free direct transit policy.
Regional ranking
Scheduled flights from Shanghai Pudong are operated by 110 airlines. Since last year, 13 new passenger and cargo carriers have begun operations there. The airport has also introduced measures to facilitate transfers between airlines and terminals, including single check-in and through baggage handling services.
Four Chinese airports were included in the top 10 for overall air connectivity in the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East: Shanghai Pudong, Guangzhou Baiyun, Beijing Capital and Hong Kong International Airport. In 2025, overall connectivity in the two regions increased by an average of 11%: by 10% in the Asia-Pacific region and by 21% in the Middle East. Dubai International Airport led the Middle East ranking.
