Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA) was awarded the honorary internationaltitle of “golden airport” on Nov 10.

The award, given by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), follows recognition earlier this year as the country's leading provider of aviation services by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the best Chinese airport by Skytrax and the top passenger service provider by carnoc.com, the largest Chinese civil aviation web portal in the world.

The recognition signals that passengers can travel with greater time and energy efficiency as they can check in, deliver baggage, change tickets, verify ID certificates, go on board and report missing baggage by themselves.

To better serve business travelers, SHA has been improving its facilities and services with intelligent approaches.

The airport cooperated with airlines to set up 100 self-service machines at the departure halls of both its terminals. It cooperated with China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines and Juneyao Airlines to provide self-service check-inand luggage delivery services.

Recently it also opened a self-service inquiry system for lost luggage. At boarding gates25 and 56, passengers can register for ticket checks by scanning a QR code, which halves the time required for this process.

With the help of the internet and smart devices, people can pay parking fees automatically with Alipay on their arrival at the entrance without stopping their car, which greatly improves efficiency, especially in peak hours.

The internet-based services are used widely in the airport for customs inspections, border and security checks and in shopping.

SHA recently called on its staff to offer passengers whole hearted services.

Passengers can enjoy high-speed internet access at T1 and their take-out food ordered by scanning the QR code of a restaurant on their mobile phone within 15 minutes.

Information inquiry robots can be found at the airport’s information center and at the high-end check-in areas of China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines.

In addition, a coordination command platform was built among Hongqiao and Pudong airports, air traffic control authorities and airlines to improve the flight punctuality and emergency response capabilities.

More screens were erected to show the status of flights, reasons for delay as well as tips on weather and tickets during long delays.

The airport will continuously upgrade its management of taxi stations and handcarts. The clean toilets in SHA were a strong factor in the assessment madeby the Airports Association Council International.

Wu Na, a safety inspector at the airport and a national model worker, demonstrates employees’ professionalism and meticulousness in her job.