Hainan expects over 6.7m air passengers in Spring Festival travel rush

HAIKOU - More than 6.7 million passengers are expected to be transported via two major airports in southern China's island province of Hainan during the Spring Festival travel rush which starts on Friday.

Haikou Meilan International Airport is expected to handle 22,092 flights with an average of 552 flights per day, up 2.86 percent year on year; the passenger throughput will hit 3.58 million with an average of 89,500 passengers per day, up 1.92 percent year on year.

Sanya Phoenix International Airport is expected to handle 16,880 flights and about 3.16 million passengers, with a year-on-year increase of 8.2 percent and 4.6 percent respectively.

Several airlines including Hainan Airlines and Southern Airlines plan to increase the number of flights from Haikou to hot tourism destinations such as Beijing, Shanghai and Myanmar's Rangoon to 1,594, which will offer more than 250,000 seats.

The Spring Festival holiday, a traditional time for family reunions, runs from Jan 24 to 30 this year, while the travel rush, also known as "chunyun," will last for 40 days from Jan 10 to Feb 18.