The city’s airport authority launched its first livestreaming event at Pudong International Airport on Saturday, attracting more than 1.5 million online viewers.

Hosts of the Shanghai Airport Authority experienced the airport hotel, VIP lounge, dining and shopping facilities of the Pudong airport during the two-hour livestream.

Free tickets, hotel rooms, VIP lounge admissions and other coupons with a total value of 100,000 yuan (US$15,260) were presented. The restored domestic flights and passengervolumes were also showcased at the live event.

Since the summer-autumn aviation season started on March 28, the number of daily flights at the airport has been restored to the level before the coronavirus outbreak.

More than 900 domestic flights take off and land at Pudong International Airport every day, a 26 percent increase compared with that before the pandemic.

The airport is handling 110,000 domestic travelers every day, an 18 percent increase from 2019.

The first livestream bythe airport authority is one of the efforts to help bring business at the airport, which was critically affected by the COVID-19, back on track, said Yin Xiao’en, assistant general manager with the business operation company of Pudong airport.

“We’d like to try these new measures such as livestreaming that are more acceptable to young customers.”

As the volume of domestic travelers rebounds, the total sales of stores and eateries at the airport’s terminal buildings are expected to fully recover during the Labor Day holiday from May 1, he said.

Pudong International Airport has about 70,000 square meters of commercial facilities at T1 and T2 as well as S1 and S2 satellite terminals. The world’s top fashion brands and popular restaurants have been operating at the airport.

Last month, the famous Singaporean restaurant Katong opened its first local outlet at the S2 terminal, showing the confidence of overseas investors in the airport, Yin said.

Pudong airport handled the largest number of international passengers among domestic airports.

The livestreaming event also promoted the Ramada Airport Hotel and the VIP lounges that attracted many overseas travelers ahead of the pandemic.

The 4-star hotel, about 1.3 kilometers from Pudong airport’s T1 and T2,has redecorated a dozen of its vacant rooms with popular cartoon characters to attract family customers on weekends and holidays.

A professional flight simulator of a Boeing 737 passenger aircraft has also been newly unveiled in the hotel’s lounge, a first for a domestic hotel.