Key Chinese airports have experienced a sharp rise in inbound and outbound passenger flows since a 40-day-long Spring Festival travel rush started from Jan. 14.
The travel rush is considered the world's largest annual human migration and coincides with China's biggest traditional celebration, the Spring Festival, a time when hundreds of millions of people return home for family reunions to celebrate the the start of Chinese New Year, which falls on Jan. 29 this year.
In 2025, the Spring Festival holiday will be extended one day more to eight days from Jan 28 to Feb 4.
An international airport serving the tech hub of Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province handled over 185,000 exit-entry trips on Jan 14-24, a year-on-year increase of nearly 38 percent.
Outbound trips accounted for nearly 60 percent of the total, up nearly 40 percent year on year, and about 30 percent of them are for family and study tours. South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia are top destinations. An airport serving the east Chinese port city of Qingdao also welcomes its busiest time as China's visa-free policy has enticed an increasing number of foreign tourists traveling to China to experience the jubilant atmosphere of the Chinese New Year.
"We, a family of three, come to China from South Korea. This year, China introduced a visa-free policy to South Korea, so we plan to stay in China for a month. My husband is a Korean and allowed to stay for one month here, so we come back for the Chinese New Year," said a traveler from South Korea. On Jan 1-24 this year, Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport inspected more than 210,000 international travelers, an increase of 59.8 percent year on year.
Chinese airports see surge in cross-border passenger flow for Spring Festival
