The Imperial Capital and the Magic Capital are the two most well-known and most comprehensive cities in China.
For China's civil aviation, the status of Beijing and Shanghai is more important than its economic status.
From the perspective of urban competition, Beijing and Shanghai are far ahead of other cities in the civil aviation industry, and the two are comparable and have their own advantages.
But we still have to see who comes out on top, especially as the civil aviation industry has recovered.
1. Airport comparison
Pudong Airport was put into operation in the second half of 1999 and can be said to be the airport of the century.
As a result, Shanghai became the first and only city in China to have two international airports until Daxing Airport was put into operation in 2019, 20 years later than Pudong Airport.
At present, Beijing and Shanghai each have two international hub airports.
Beijing: Capital Airport, Daxing Airport.
Shanghai: Pudong Airport, Hongqiao Airport.
Take a look at the passenger, cargo and mail throughput in 2019 and 2023.
In terms of passenger throughput.
2019:
100 million passengers at the Capital Airport.
Daxing Airport 3.14 million passengers.
Nanyuan Airport 5.06 million passengers (closed in 2019).
Beijing totals 10.8 billion people.
Pudong Airport 76.15 million passengers.
Hongqiao Airport 45.64 million passengers.
Shanghai totals 12.2 billion passengers.
2023:
52.87 million passengers at the Capital Airport.
Daxing Airport 39.4 million passengers.
A total of 92.27 million passengers were in Beijing.
Pudong Airport 54.25 million passengers.
Hongqiao Airport 42.5 million passengers.
Shanghai has a total of 96.75 million passengers.
Whether it was before the epidemic or after the epidemic, Shanghai was slightly better.
From the point of view of cargo and mail throughput.
2019:
Beijing totaled 1.98 million tons.
Shanghai totaled 4.06 million tons.
2023:
Beijing totaled 1.28 million tons.
Shanghai totaled 3.8 million tons.
2. Airlines
There are 7 airlines with headquarters (main base) in Shanghai:
China Eastern Airlines.
Shanghai Airlines. One-two-three Airlines.
China Cargo Airlines. Spring Airlines.
Juneyao Airlines. Suparna Airlines.
Central Enterprise: China Eastern Airlines Group
Private enterprises: Spring Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, Suparna Airlines
Passenger aviation: China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Spring and Autumn Airlines, Jixiang
Cargo Airlines: China Cargo Airlines
An airline that handles both passengers and cargo: Suparna Airlines
There are 6 airlines with headquarters (main base) in Beijing:
Air China.
Beijing Airlines. Air China Cargo.
China United Airlines.
Capital Airlines. Grand China Air.
State-owned enterprises: AVIC Group (Air China).
Private enterprises: Capital Airlines, Grand China Airlines.
Cargo Airlines: Air China Cargo.
Beijing and Shanghai are the cities with the most airlines in China, but Shanghai has one more airline.
3. Civil aviation listed companies
There are 5 listed civil aviation companies in Shanghai:
China Eastern Airlines (600115).
Spring Airlines (601021).
Juneyao Airlines (603885).
China Eastern Airlines Logistics (601156).
Shanghai Airport (600009).
There are two listed civil aviation companies in Beijing:
Air China (601111).
Capital Airport (00694).
Similarly, the listed city is also the city with the most listed civil aviation companies in China.
Through the comparison of three aspects, it is not difficult for us to find:
Shanghai ranks first in China in terms of air passengers and first in terms of air cargo and mail traffic.
Shanghai has the most airlines and the largest number of listed civil aviation companies.
In many ways, in terms of civil aviation, Shanghai wins over Beijing.