Transfers to be easier for air travelers

International travelers may have one less headache to fret over when transiting through the city as Shanghai Pudong International Airport becomes the first on the Chinese mainland to waive frontier inspections for overseas air passengers upon arrival, so long as they transfer within a 24-hour period.

In a pilot aimed at making travel more convenient for overseas travelers, air passengers can now skip local frontier inspections during stopovers in Shanghai when they show tickets for their full journey, the city's frontier inspection authorities said Wednesday.

"As a larger volume of overseas passengers pass through the city, our goal is to improve airport efficiency to provide better service, which is especially important as Shanghai continues to strive towards being a more reliable and convenient international transport center," Liu Yongjian, a press officer for the city's frontier inspection authorities at the Pudong airport, told the Global Times Wednesday.

Essentially, the move means that overseas air passengers do not need to stop for the city's frontier inspectors when transiting, and can instead head straight through to restricted customs areas while waiting to transfer.

"Even though the procedure is short, the queue can sometimes get quite long," he said. "Air passengers coming off a delayed flight in the past have been stuck in line, and some of them have had trouble making their connecting flight due to the time factor.

"So, this should help cut out that problem," he added.

Air passengers, however, will still be subject to security checks when transiting, said Liu.

New signs have been put up to direct transit passengers of the change, while airport staff will be on 24-hour duty to assist air travelers, he added.