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December 12, 2017Shanghai Pudong Airport – Spotting Guide
- last modified on August 5, 2024
The Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG/ZSPD) is situated 30km southeast of the downtown of Shanghai which means a 15 minutes ride by maglev train and a 40 minutes ride by metro (Metroline: Line 2 East Extension). The airport was opened on the 1st of October 1999 as the second international Airport in Shanghai and named after the part of the city, where the airport was built.
Pudong International Airport got almost all international routes from Hongquiao (SHA) without and most of the flights within Asia, but 75% of the domestic routes were kept at Hongquiao – that’s why you won’t find many domestic flights at PVG. Pudong Airport is a hub for the following chinese Airines: China Eastern (MU), Shanghai Airlines (FM), Spring Airlines (9C) and Juneyao Airlines (HO). Apart from this, PVG is served by a few European, American, Arabian and many Asian Cariers.
About 66 million passengers travel through PVG every year, so the Airport is Chinas 3rd most busiest airport and the 9th on the world! Apart from the passengers airplanes PVG is an important airport for cargo aircraft, too. There are lot freighters flying to/from Pudong, not just from Asia – from all over the world.
General tips for China
many foreign websites and apps are blocked and don’t work in China. Below you will find some helpful apps:
- WeChat: every Chinese use this app, it also has a good translation function that helps really a lot because the language is the main barrier. You can translate from Chinese writings and they can translate your English into Chinese characters. This is a must have. The common western messenger services like Facebook, WhatsApp etc. don not work in China!
- Alipay: it is a major Chinese App that can be registered abroad and almost all shops/stores/hotels etc. support it as an official payment. You can add your western credit card like Amex, VISA or Mastercard to Alipay in advance. Furthermore you can also book and pay flights, hotels, restaurants, didi etc. with the app. This app is a must have!
- Didi: the Chinese “Uber”. Very helpful to reach the spots which are not connected to the public transport.
- Baidu Maps or Gaode Maps: this is the chinese google/apple maps.
We recommend to buy a chinese eSIM in advance from airalo for example. It is cheap and simple to install.
Written by Severin Hackenberger, Felix Yao, Jaxon Xlin, Bas Velders and Tombarelli Federico. Last Update: Aprile 2024 (Spot 9-10-11 added)
| Rating | |
| Movements |  |
| Airline Variety |  |
| Photo Locations |  |
| Weather | |
| Airport Information | |
| Runways | |
| 16R/34L | 3800 m (12.467 ft) Concrete |
| 16L/34R | 3800 m (12.467 ft) Concrete |
| 17L/35R | 4000 m (13.123 ft) Concrete |
| 17R/35L | 3400 m (11.155 ft) Concrete |
| 15/33 | 3400 m (11.155 ft) Concrete |
| Terminals | |
| Terminal 1 | Terminal on west side of railway system (looking north). Used for flights within Asia mostly. |
| Terminal 2 | Terminal on east side of railway system (looking north). Used for a lot of international flights, a few domestic flights, too. |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | Not needed and even not recommended; the use of a ladder next to the airport fence will attract the authorities. |
| Car/Public Transport | Car not needed for our spots, they can easily be reached by public Transport. |
| Restrooms | In the terminal buildings and hotels. |
| Drinks/Food | There are a lot of restaurants and shops inside the terminals. |
| Hotels | There are just a few hotels nearby the Airport, but inside the City you’ll find a lot! You can take a look at Plane Spotting Hotels for some examples. |
| Season | The traffic isn’t varies at PVG, but the best time of travel is between May and September (mostly sunny and warm). |
| Runway Usage | |
| General Info | Due to the monsoon climate of Shanghai, north wind dominates in winter, meaning that the possibility of 35R, 34L operation is much higher during this time of year than it is in summer. While in summer, when we have south wind, then it’s more likely to spot 17R, 16L arrivals at this spot. |
| 16L/34R | 16 Usage: Mostly used for departures. 34 Usage: Mostly used for arrivals. |
| 16R/34L | 16 Usage: Mostly used for arrivals. 34 Usage: Mostly used for departures. |
| 17R/35L | 17 Usage: Mostly used for departures. 35 Usage: Mostly used for arrivals. |
| 17L/35R | 17 Usage: Mostly used for arrivals. 35 Usage: Mostly used for departures. |
| 15/33 | New runway built at eastern end of airport area (November 2017). No exact alignment known yet, but north-south direction, too. |
Due to national security concerns, the use of geographic information in China is restricted and the layers in google maps don´t fit. The satellite images are correct but the street layers are displaced!
Please click on the link at each location (WHERE) to get to the chinese website baidu where you find an exact map with satellite and street view images. If you use a smartphone please download the Baidu App.
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Spot #1 – Terminaldriveway north – Apron |
|---|---|
| WHERE | This spot can be reached by taxi and metro/maglev easily. The spot is located on the driveway of Terminal 2. If you travel by train exit the terminal 2 at its highest floor and if you are outside walk into northern direction until you’ll come to the end of the terminal on your right and where the roof ends. If you travel by taxi ask the taxidriver to drive you to terminal 2. Once you arrived go to the highest floor and walk to the northern end again where the roof ends. Then it depends on the planes/view you want to have where to spot from! So you have to choose you favourite spot along the driveway, but take of not Disturbing the traffic on the road, otherwise you might have problems with the police. |
| WHAT | All planes which are parked on the north-western side of terminal 2 and of course planes which are taxiing from/to the parking positions (these ones are mostly used by Spring Airlines, Macau Air, Dragonair/Cathay Dragon, Sichuan Airlines and China Southern). |
| TIME | This depends on the angle you take pictures of planes of. But for most of the pictures light will be better in the afternoon than in the morning hours. |
| MISC. | No ladder needed. Everything can be found inside the terminals, like cafés or restrooms. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 18 – 300mm Air Macau A320 = 160mm / China Southern A321 = 155mm / Sichuan A320 = 200mm |
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Spot #2 – Terminaldriveway south – Apron |
|---|---|
| WHERE | This spot can be reached by taxi and metro/maglev easily. The spot is located on the driveway of Terminal 2. If you travel by train exit the terminal 2 at its highest floor and if you are outside walk into southern direction until you’ll come to the end of the terminal on your left and where the roof ends. If you travel by taxi ask the taxidriver to drive you to terminal 2. Once you arrived go to the highest floor and walk to its southern end again and where the roof ends. Then it depends on the planes/view you want to have where to spot from! So you have to choose you favourite spot along the driveway, but take of not Disturbing the traffic on the road, otherwise you might have problems with the police. |
| WHAT | All planes which are parked on the south-western side of terminal 2 and of course planes which are taxiing from/to the parking positions (these ones are mostly used by Air China, Juneyao Airlines and Hainan Airlines). |
| TIME | This depends on the angle you take pictures of planes of. But for most of the pictures light will be better in the afternoon than in the morning hours. |
| MISC. | No ladder needed. Everything can be found inside the terminals, like cafés or restrooms. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 18 – 350mm British Airways B777 = 285mm / Air China A320 = 175mm / Air China A321 = 160mm |
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Spot #3 – Haitian East 2nd Road – Arrivals runway 16R/L |
|---|---|
| WHERE | This spot is located inside an industrial zone, just next to the “Haitian East 2nd Road”. The easiest way to get there is to take the metro line 2 to “Haitiansan Road”-Station and then exit “Haitian East 3rd Road”. Cross the river and after 400m turn left into “Dongyuanhang Road”. After another 200m turn right into “Haitian East 2nd Road” and walk till the dead end of the road. |
| WHAT | You will see Arrivals on runway 16R/L only. |
| TIME | Light will be okay from noon till sunset. |
| MISC. | No shops and anything else nearby, so bring what you need with you! No ladder needed. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 200 – 400mm Emirates A380 = 295mm / Asiana B744 = 285mm / Qatar B777 = 270mm / China Eastern A319 = 360mm / China Spring A320 = 335mm / Shenzen A320 = 340mm |
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Spot #4 – Inside T2 – All Activities on runway 16L/34R and 16R/34L + apron/gates terminal 2 |
|---|---|
| WHERE | This spot isn’t a exact position inside the terminal, it’s the whole gate-area beyond the security check in terminal 2 so a boarding pass is needed! You can take pictures at the whole glass fronts, there are no obstacles! You can take pictures from everywhere in T2 and in normal case there is just one glass panel, which is being cleaned regularly. |
| WHAT | All activities on runways 16L/34L and 16L/34R and nearby taxiways. Apart from that all activities infront of terminal 2, both sides of the terminal (western/eastern gates and apron). |
| TIME | This depends on the angle you take pictures of planes of. But for most of the pictures light will be better in the afternoon than in the morning hours. |
| MISC. | Everything can be found inside the terminal, like cafés or restrooms. Of course no ladder needed! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 18 – 400mm Dragonair A320 = 120mm / United B744 = 95mm / Malaysian Airlines A330 = 120mm / China Southern = 195mm / China Eastern Cargo B744 = 160mm / Ethiopian B777 = 170mm |
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Spot #5 – Anhang Rd – Arrivals Runway 17L |
|---|---|
| WHERE | This spot is located on the corner of Anhang Rd and Haitian 2nd Rd. There is a small field where all arrivals of Runway 17 can be photographed. The easiest way to get there is to take the metro line 2 to “Haitiansan Road”-Station and then exit “Haitian East 3rd Road” and walk till Anhang Rd and Haitaian 2n Rd. If you travel by car: take S1 to the city (north) and get off at the first exit. Then go left on Haitian 5th street and right on Anhang Rd. You won’t be bothered at this spot.Our visit is some years ago and due to recent satellite images we are not sure if you can still spot from here. It seems there is a parking lot now and very high trees. |
| WHAT | Arrivals runway 17L. |
| TIME | From sunrise until noon. There can be quite some smog though. |
| MISC. | There is nothing there. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 300 – 400mm |
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Spot #6 – Bridge at Hangquan Rd – Arrivals Runway 17L |
|---|---|
| WHERE | This spot is located on the corner of Jidi 3rd road and Hangquan road on a bridge. There is supposed to be a bus stop (“东方航空”) north of this spot, but except from this getting here is quite difficult. Taking a taxi might be the best/easiest option to get to this spot. We never received reports that spotters got bothered at this spot. |
| WHAT | Arrivals runway 17L. |
| TIME | From noon till sunset. There can be quite some smog though. |
| MISC. | There is nothing there. Take care of the cars using the streets. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 200 – 300mm A332 = 220mm / A380 = 210mm |
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Spot #7 – Haitiansan Metro Station – 34L/35R departures |
|---|---|
| WHERE | It’s quite easy and convenient to reach this spot by taking metro line 2 and get off at Haitiansan Rd. station as the spot itself is the platform of this open-air metro station. Once you get off the train, you are right at this spot. One problem with this spot is that the view is blocked when a train arrives. In this case, you can only wait until the train departs. |
| WHAT | Best for 35R and 34L heavy departures. 17R/16L arrivals are visible but very far. |
| TIME | RWY 35R departures, sunrise to noon. RWY 34L departures noon to sunset. |
| MISC. | Food and drinks are available on the ground floor in a vending machine, BUT you have to exit the station to get access. Restrooms are available also on the ground floor. No need to exit the station. No issue with the police. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | up to 400mm for the 777 |
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Spot #8 – Mud Hills – 34R arrivals, 16R departures |
|---|---|
| WHERE | There are some mud hills between the runways 33 and 34R where you can stay. The location is in the middle of nowhere so you need to grab a Didi to get there. From the main road pass the gate and walk to the hill on a dirt road. |
| WHAT | Best for 34R arrivals and 16R heavy departures. |
| TIME | From sunrise until noon. |
| MISC. | There is absolutely nothing around. There are insects within the bushes so use mug spray. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 16R departures: Boeing 77F = 350mm; Boeing 744F = 300mm) |
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Spot #9 – Big Hill – 34R Arrivals Afternoon |
|---|---|
| WHERE | There is a big hill facing runway 34R where you can stand on. To get there by Didi search on the map for the landing lights path of rwy 34R and you will see the big hill and a gate. Tell the driver to drop off anywhere around there and walk a bit. Then walk into the field and climb up the hill. You can miss it and it is an easy climb. |
| WHAT | Afternoon 34R landings, also all the flight tests of Comac are on this runway. You can try some departure shots but the haze is really really strong, maybe in winter you can shoot heavies. |
| TIME | From noon to sunset. |
| MISC. | There is absolutely nothing around so bring food, drinks and be sure to have your phone charged. Not far from you there is an access to the airport so if you go to close to the fence, the security will send you away. Anyway over this hill you are ok and no one cares. If it has rained the day before, the hill will be really muddy so be aware that you might slip or ruin your shoes. No shadow to hide from the sun. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | C919: 300mm; A350: 180mm; A321: 250mm |
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Spot #10 – Road/Hill – 35L Arrivals Morning |
|---|---|
| WHERE | This spot is no exact position but a complete area next at rwy 35L. Try to set your Didi to get there as marked on the map. When you are there you can stay on the road (not much traffic there as it is only an airport access for workers) or climb up the big hill for a better angle. |
| WHAT | Landings rwy 35L. Departures are impossible to shot because the lineup zone is extremely far, you can only watch them. From the topof the hill you can see the maintenance area and get close to it, but it is hard to get a good pics of the parked aircraft. |
| TIME | From sunrise until noon. |
| MISC. | There is absolutely nothing around so bring food, drinks and be sure to have your phone charged. Anyway over this hill you are ok and no one cares. If it has rained the day before, the hill will be really muddy so be aware that you might slip or ruin your shoes. No shadow to hide from the sun. No problems with security. No shadow to hide from the sun. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | From the hill: A320: 220mm; A350: 150mm |
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Spot #11 – Cargo Mounds – 17R Arrivals Afternoon |
|---|---|
| WHERE | From Spot #6 follow back south at Hangquan road towards the Cargo Area until the 90° right turn. In this curve, there is a wide hole in the bushes, where people can pass through to reach the mound. Then it is just a short walk on the small path to reach the mounds. Once on top, watch out for the angle you prefer. |
| WHAT | 17R arrivals. As you are over the fence some taxing out cargos are possible but the foreground is really messy. The departure runway is too far and the haze is impossible to avoid even in the latest hours. |
| TIME | From noon till sunset |
| MISC. | There is absolutely nothing around. There are insects within the bushes so use mug spray. Bring food and drinks, no shadow to hide from the sun. A lot of security passed from inside the airport and no one cared as you are still far enough from the fence. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 150mm for B747; 250mm for B737-800 |
Hi there
I am flying in/out of Terminal 1 a couple of times next month. Are there any opportunities to take photos airside or from outside the terminal at Terminal 1, as all references are for Terminal 2?
Many thanks
Hi. Is it ok to spot in and around the airports? Thinking of visiting China but don’t want a waisted trip if I’m going to be moved on or worse by the authorities.
Thanks
Good to spot, just don’t get to close to the fences and you should be fine, as for in the airport, you can shoot as you like, no worries.
Hi Shanghai spotters! I read FlightRadar 24 is no longer available in Chinese app stores, however, can I still use it as a visiting foreign spotter, or is it completely blocked like many other non-Chinese apps?
Up to now, it is still possible to use FR24 for apple user. However, for Android user, you may only see the plane without map.
Is it hard to spot in t1?
I think it’s a bit hard to spot in T1 and S1 as the glasses are sloping and far from where you can reach in some places.
S1 is possible to spot, the glass is relatively vertical and single-panes, just not very good variety. I’d recommend T2.
Actually, the platform of Haitiansan Rd. metro station can also be counted as a spotting location. 300mm Lens required for wide bodies in the morning.
Actually there are several awesome spotting locations along the runway 16L/34R either in the farmland or on the seashore, but it is not recommended if you are not going with local spottes since it is too remote from the terminal and the only way to get there is to drive your own car, meanwhile you will probably be alerted to leave by airport security or even farmers who have been bribed you know.
Hi Ronnie!
Thanks for this information. Did you visit any of these spots yet? If so, we would be very happy if you could share your knowledge of these spots with us…
Regards, Severin
Hi Severin
Yes I have been to some of them but as I mentioned it is better to visit with more than one spotters, perhaps with local Shanghai spotters. I dont think other people will be happy to see any info about these places to be shared publicly. Contact me on Twitter @Ronnie_Zhou or Line @Yu Zhou or the best Tercent wechat “zy05270” if you use it.
Regards
Hi Ronnie!
Okay, I see your point. Is a bit or even quite difficult to mention this well in a guide…
Regards, Severin
I’m a local spotter in Shanghai. The locations mentioned above no longer exist because of airport expansion. Spotting locations of RWY 16L/34R are now pretty limited.
Hi, can you please tell us which locations are no longer existing. If there are new locations please use this form so we can add it to the guide.
https://www.spotterguide.net/missing-photos-location/
Thanks, Julian
Hi, the locations you mentioned above still exist, but those Ronnie has mentioned no longer exist. I have added the new spot using the link above, so please check it out. Thanks.
Cheers, Felix
Guys, when you say spotting in the terminal at T2 is a boarding card required?
For #4, yes it is Ryan. As stated above: “….it’s the whole area beyond the security check in terminal 2!”
Have a nice trip!
-Julian
Thanks Julian – I wasn’t sure if that was after security in a European sense or security like in Chinese airports/railway stations as you enter the building but still public – Cheers for clarifiying!