Siemens receives order to modernize and expand the baggage handling system at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport

Siemens Postal, Parcel & Airport Logistics has received an order to modernize and expand the baggage handling system in Terminal 1 at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport. The company helps the airport operator to expand its capacities and further improve passenger convenience. Some 38 million passengers passed through Hongqiao in 2014, making it the most important domestic airport in Shanghai. With 24 million people, the business metropolis in Eastern China is one of the world’s largest cities.

Michael Reichle, CEO of Siemens Postal, Parcel & Airport Logistics, said, “We are proud of this strategically important project in Shanghai. This order shows that our experience and know-how is in great demand in the Chinese airport market. We help airlines and airports to cope with the enormous passenger growth in China and increase their efficiency and competitiveness.”
Dai Xiao Jian, Vice General Manager of Shanghai Airport Authority Group, which runs both Hongqiao and Pudong International Airport, said, “In the first half of 2015, for the first time, the two Shanghai airports overtook Beijing as China’s largest aviation hub. The modernization of the baggage handling system will make a decisive contribution toward establishing and further extending this position.”

As part of the modernization and expansion, Siemens plans, supplies and integrates a state-of-the-art baggage handling system in Terminal 1 of Hongqiao Airport. The scope of supply includes 87 check-ins, nine carousels in the arrival area and seven carousels in the make-up area, where the baggage is prepared for the flight. Siemens will also install conveyor belts with a total length of some 1,400 meters, a programmable logic controller (PLC) and a SCADA system for computer-based monitoring and control of all technical processes.

The customer particularly profits from Siemens providing all services from a single source. The conversion work is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2019. Throughout the entire modernization, Siemens will ensure that regular airport operations run smoothly, and that passengers do not notice the conversion activities.

Siemens has already successfully completed a whole series of major airport projects in China. Among the most recent successes are the baggage handling system in Terminal 3 of Beijing International Airport and projects at Wuhan Tianhe and Xi'an Xianyang international airports. In Shanghai Siemens has carried out the IT integration at Pudong International Airport.

Hongqiao Airport offers a number of international destinations in addition to its domestic flights. It added a second terminal and runway in 2010 to cope with the large passenger growth. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), China overtakes the United States by 2030 to become the number one country in regard to passenger numbers. It is estimated that around 1.3 billion passengers will travel by air to, from and within China in 2034. That will be over 850 million more than in 2014.