Shanghai's Longhua Airport: Exploring the Art Deco Terminal and West Bund
Shanghai's First Airport, gone but not forgotten
Join me as I visit some of the remains of Longhua Airport in Shanghai, in a brief video next to the Huangpu river, also incorporating 2024's coffee lifestyle festival on the West Bund. Shanghai Longhua Airport (ICAO: ZSSL), then called Shanghai Lunghwa Airport, was a converted general aviation airport and PLAAF airfield located south of downtown Shanghai, China, on the bank of the Huangpu River. It opened in the early 1920s and served as the city's airport until the 1950s when Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport opened. Thereafter, it was one of two general aviation airports serving Shanghai and also served as an emergency landing site for police, fire and rescue operations southwest of the city. The airport was eventually closed at 1966, and the airport grounds were slowly built over though a period of between 1993 and 2016. The site began airfield operations in late 1922 under the Beiyang government. In the early 1930s, the main, semi circular Art Deco terminal was built, along with the main ATC tower on the top of the main terminal, which still exists today, making it the last structure still remaining on what was once the airport. In the 1930s-1940s, during its golden age, the airport was known as the most popular airport for amphibious aircraft and the biggest airport of the Far East at the time. After the Battle of Shanghai, Imperial Japanese Airways operated services from Longhua to Fukuoka and Taipei during the late 1930s and early 1940s. Additionally, the tarmac was expanded to accommodate at least 100 aircraft (before 1937, only 10 airplanes could be parked at the tarmac), 2 gravel runways were added, making Longhua Airport one of China's first airport with more than one runway built. After the end of World War II, basic equipment such as power supply, radar, and communication systems were renovated and improved. Hence, the airport became a hub for China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC), as well as a famous stopover for many international...
