Officials at Shanghai Pudong International Airport have confirmed that the US$2.5 billion (Yuan 20 billion) seagull-shaped Terminal 2 project will open for passengers early next year.

This marks completion of the second phase of construction at the airport, which opened in 1999. Upon completion, the expansion project will increase the airport’s annual passenger capacity from 20 million to 60 million, making Shanghai one of the world’s largest airports.

More expansion is planned. The airport expects to handle around 100 million passengers a year and 5.7 million tonnes of cargo by 2020, making it the biggest international airport in China.

By then, it should have three terminals, two satellite buildings and five runways, and will handle most air passengers travelling to and from the city.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport is located in the eastern part of China’s Pudong district. In 2006 it handled 17.15 million passengers on international flights, considerably more than Beijing Capital International Airport, which handled 12.6 million international passengers. At present, only 5% of passengers traveling to Pudong are on transfers, but that figure is expected to grow to between 30 to 40% by 2020.