As the May Day holiday draws to a close on Monday, China is seeing a significant surge in travel across highways, railways, and airports, causing strains to the country's transportation network.
Regional airports have ramped up their expansions to meet rising passenger demand, particularly in key tourist destinations.
The Ministry of Transport forecasts a return travel peak, with long-distance and short-distance return traffic converging. Major cities, train stations, and airports are expected to experience substantial congestion starting at 14:00, peaking between 16:00 and 18:00.
In terms of railways, 21.1 million passenger trips are expected on Monday, with 1,896 additional trains scheduled to accommodate the surge. This marks a significant increase from the 19.786 million passenger trips handled on Sunday.
In the Beijing area alone, 704,000 outbound passenger train trips are expected, with 840,000 inbound passenger trips. Busy traffic routes, including Beijing-Shanghai, Shenzhen-Shanghai, and Hong Kong-Shenzhen, are seeing concentrated passenger flows.
To meet the increased demand, China Railway has added temporary trains and high-speed night trains across key regions such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Popular tourist cities, including Kashgar, Hetian, and Altay in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, will also see extra trains to accommodate return travelers.
In civil aviation, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) expects to handle 2.32 million passenger trips on Monday. During the May Day holiday period, the CAAC has optimized capacity allocation and service quality to ensure smooth and safe operations.
From May 1 to May 5, about 11.15 million passenger trips were made by air, with daily passenger numbers averaging 2.23 million -- an 11.8 percent increase from last year.
Popular airports like Guangzhou Baiyun, Shanghai Pudong, and Beijing Capital have handled the highest traffic. Flight routes including Shanghai Hongqiao-Beijing Capital and Shenzhen Bao'an-Shanghai Hongqiao have seen concentrated passenger flows.
Regional aviation is becoming an increasingly critical component of China's air transport infrastructure, linking the nation's broader aviation network. These airports, generally handling fewer than 500,000 passenger trips annually, now are quickening their steps to advance expansion efforts in order to manage the rapid rise in domestic travel demand.
According to Qunar.com, an online travel platform, flight bookings for smaller destinations expanded significantly during the May Day holiday.
"We've observed that certain regional airports, such as those in the cities of Puer, Jiujiang, and Turpan, which are niche destinations, have seen flight bookings increase by over 50 percent year on year," said Xiao Peng, a researcher at Qunar Big Data Research Institute.
In southwest China's Yunnan Province, Dali Airport is undergoing extensive upgrades, including expanded runways and new terminals, to accommodate the growing influx of travelers.
The tourist paradise of Dali saw 110 million tourist visits in 2024, marking a 15.5-percent increase from the previous year. The annual growth of passenger traffic at its airport has exceeded 1 million for the past three years.
"We are making use of the time interval between flights to carry out construction work, ensuring that air operations are uninterrupted. This approach allows the entire expansion project to progress on time and as scheduled," said Zhao Jiang, deputy general manager of Dali Airport.
Nationwide, over a dozen regional airports are undergoing similar expansions. Data shows that from 2021 to 2025, regional flight volumes and passenger numbers surged, with a 10.8 percent rise in flights and a 7.6 percent increase in passenger traffic in 2024 compared to 2019. By 2024, the number of regional airports had reached 189.
"Take the connecting flights between mainlines and regional airports as an example, business activity in the first quarter of this year saw a substantial increase, serving nearly 600,000 passengers, with a year-on-year growth of 2.1 times. The accessibility of domestic transport networks to airports in remote areas has also been further improved," said Sun Xiaoli, deputy secretary-general of China Civil Airports Association.
Return travel surges as May Day holiday ends
