(Yicai) June 26 -- Passenger throughput at Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao International Airport, Shanghai's two air hubs, fully recovered to the level of 2019 in the first five months of this year to rank first in China.

Some 50.2 million people departed from or landed at the Pudong and Hongqiao airports in the five months ended May 31, up 49 percent from a year earlier, Shanghai Airport Authority announced yesterday.

The number of aircraft taking off and landing at the two airports rose 27 percent to 329,000 units, recovering to 101 percent of the level before the Covid-19 pandemic, Shanghai Airport noted. Cargo and mail throughput was nearly 1.7 million tons, up 15.4 percent from a year ago and rebounding to 107 percent of 2019's level.

Shanghai Airport has opened regular passenger and cargo transport air routes to 281 destinations in 48 countries, including 169 spots in China. It has also launched five new international routes to Athens, Riyadh, Penang, Manama, and Phu Quoc Island and resumed five other to St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, Brussels, and Takamatsu.

Shanghai Airport will open two new international passenger routes to Manchester and Marseille next month.

Shares of Shanghai Airport Authority [SHA: 600009] fell 0.5 percent to CNY31.85 (USD4.38) apiece as of 10.10 a.m. today.

Editor: Martin Kadiev