Record numbers expected as travel rush begins

The Spring Festival travel rush, or chunyun, that sees the world's largest annual human migration taking place, began on Friday. The 40-day rush period ends on March 5.

This year, a staggering 9 billion passenger trips are expected to take place, establishing a new record.

About 480 million passenger trips are expected to be made via the railway network, 80 million trips by air, and an unprecedented 7.2 billion trips by car, with all the figures being new highs.

The civil aviation industry, which was badly affected by the pandemic, is preparing to handle the record volume of passengers, with a notable increase in the number of international passengers expected.

"During Spring Festival, the outbound travel market is expected to experience a surge. Popular destinations will include neighboring countries and regions," said Liang Nan, director of the transportation department at the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

She added that the implementation of more convenient visa policies have facilitated travel, resulting in more people planning trips abroad.

She said that airlines have applied to add more than 2,500 scheduled and chartered international flights during the holiday period.

In Beijing, over 10,000 outbound flights are expected to be handled during the season.

According to the North China Regional Administration of Civil Aviation Administration of China, 10,253 outbound flights are expected to be managed by two airports in the capital — Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport.

The administration highlighted that this number is significantly more than last year.

China lifted its epidemic control policy in January last year, leading to the gradual recovery of international air travel.

Beijing Capital International Airport, the country's busiest airport, is expected to manage 1.4 million international passenger trips during the travel rush, nearly 20 percent of the airport's total volume, representing a 60 percent increase from last year.