Shanghai’s former Longhua Airport will be transformed into the city’s first helicopter airport, the Shanghai Daily reports.
Scheduled to open by early 2019, Longhua Helicopter Airport will cover 30,000m² of riverside land in the Xuhui area of the city. It will feature aprons and hangers for 21 helicopters, plus terminal buildings, an air traffic control tower and helicopter maintenance facilities.
It is estimated that more than 4,000 helicopters will take off and land at the airport by 2020, but the facility won’t be used for sightseeing services.
Longhua Airport was built in 1917 and was one of the largest airports in the Far East by the 1930s. One of the airport’s two runways will be turned into a riverside park with bicycle lanes and jogging tracks.
The announcement comes just days after it was revealed that a third airport could be developed in Shanghai dedicated to private aircraft and business jets.
