A foreign traveler walks into the immigration inspection section of Pudong International Airport. Photo: IC

A record number of visitors have passed through the city's two international airports during the six-month-long World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport received and sent 90 percent of the 12.8 million air passengers arriving at and departing the city, including 5.28 million domestic passengers and 5.42 million foreign passengers.

A total of 50,165 tour groups entered through Pudong International Airport, of which 9,749 came from overseas specifically for the Expo.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport Frontier Inspection Station inspected 78,991 aircraft during the Expo, including 58,572 passenger air-craft, 19,438 cargo aircraft, 891 corporate aircraft and 90 chartered aircraft.

It received 9,038 foreign government officials in 1,040 groups during the period, more than during any other six-month period since the airport opened in 1999.

April 29 saw the single highest daily number of foreign government officials flying into the airport at 400, for the opening ceremony of the Expo on April 30.

Meanwhile, Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport received and sent 760,000 passengers during the Expo period, up 74 percent on the same period of the previous year. Visitors from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan accounted for the most, at 30.6 percent, 20.5 percent and 20.3 percent respectively.

A new route between Hongqiao International Airport and Hong Kong that opened September 10 and a new route between the airport and Taiwan that opened June 14 together carried at least 220,000 passengers during the Expo period.

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