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Shanghai will put the second terminal of its Hongqiao international airport, which is part of a three-year airport expansion program, into operation on March 16, local airport sources said Thursday.

The program, involving construction of a 362,600-sqm terminal, a 3,300-meter-long runway that is the second of the Hongqiao airport, has been checked and accepted by the China Administration of Civil Aviation. The program will cost an estimated total of 10 billion yuan (US$1.47 billion).

According to designs, by 2015, the program will be able to accommodate 40 million passengers and 1 million tonnes of cargoes and mails a year and to allow 300,000 aircraft landings and take-offs annually.

The program is seen as an important infrastructural support to the World Expo 2010, which is to be held in Shanghai from May 1 to October 31.

There are two international airports operational in Shanghai, one is Hongqiao and the other Pudong. Now the two airports have combined designed capacities of handling 100 million passengers and 5.2 million tonnes of cargos and mails a year and of accommodating 790,000 landings and take-offs annually.