Aviation authorities brace for record number of passenger trips during holiday

Beijing Capital International Airport is gearing up to accommodate an increased number of international passengers during the upcoming 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, as China's civil aviation industry continues its recovery from the COVID-19 epidemic.

This year's Spring Festival travel rush begins on Friday and ends on March 5. The Civil Aviation Administration of China anticipates handling a record 80 million passenger trips during this period.

Beijing Capital International Airport, one of the country's busiest airports, is expected to manage 1.4 million international passenger trips, nearly 20 percent of the airport's total volume, according to the airport's announcement on Thursday.

Throughout the travel rush, the airport is expected to handle 7.2 million trips, a 60 percent increase from last year.

According to Li Guangxi, who works in the airport's operation control center, popular overseas destinations include Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Bangkok and Seoul.

To meet the passengers' demands, airline companies are increasing international flights during this period.

Hainan Airlines has recently resumed flights between Beijing and Bangkok and Phuket, and has added more flights between Haikou and Sydney, as well as Haikou and Melbourne, according to Wang Yanping from Hainan Airlines.