China: Pudong airport leads country with 25 million inbound, outbound trips.

The Shanghai Pudong International Airport led all its domestic counterparts by handling a total of 25 million inbound and outbound passenger trips this year as of Friday, reaching the milestone six days ahead of its 2025 pace. The immigration data from the airport showed that foreign arrivals amounted to four million, marking a 21 percent year-on-year increase. The data also showed that more than 60 percent of these foreign visitors entered visa free or enjoying the 24-hour and 240-hour transit visa exemption policies. South Korea led other countries in terms of foreign arrivals, followed by Russia, the United States, Thailand, and Malaysia. Emil, a Russian traveler, echoed the sentiment. The surge in inbound arrivals follows a broader expansion of Pudong's international route network. Carriers have added new services this year to destinations including Phu Quoc Island of Vietnam, Tashkent of Uzbekistan, and Zurich of Switzerland, expanding the airport's regular connections to 302 destinations in 53 countries, reaching a new historic high. Meanwhile, the airport also handled more than 7.5 million outbound trips by domestic citizens this year. Long-haul routes to Europe, Africa, and Australia have maintained steady growth. Shotlist: Shanghai, China - Sept 4, 2026: 1. Various of international travelers at airport; 2. Various of travelers waiting to go through immigration; 3. Various of travelers going through eGate; 4. Various of British visitor waiting to go through immigration; 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Aaron (full name not give), British visitor (starting with shot 2): "The visa-free travel is very good. Now very easy. I want to be [in China] more often."; 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Emil (full name not give), Russian traveler (ending with shot 5): "[We want to go to] zoo, Disneyland, shopping, and taste Chinese cuisine. The visa[-free travel], it's very good."; 7. Various of international travelers at airport. [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]