CHINA saw a remarkable increase in passenger trips as this year’s Spring Festival travel rush began, according to official data released Saturday.

A total of 189 million passenger trips were made nationwide Friday, up 19.7% from last year, according to a special work team comprising multiple government departments including the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Public Security, and the China State Railway Group Co. Ltd.

Specifically, railway passenger trips hit 11 million, marking a surge of 78% year on year.

Passenger trips via road, waterway and air increased 16.6%, 48.6% and 111.8%, respectively, as per the work team.

The travel rush, also known as “chunyun,” will see hundreds of millions of people return home and reunite with their friends and families.

The Spring Festival holiday this year in China runs from Feb. 10 to 17.

After consistent recovery of international flights, inbound air ticket bookings have witnessed an 819% year-on-year growth and inbound traveling booking volume soared more than 10 times, according to travel service provider Trip.com Group.

After the Civil Aviation Administration of China called for increasing international flights following market demand, Chinese airlines added more than 2,500 international flights for the Spring Festival travel rush that lasts from Friday to March 5 this year.

As of Jan. 22, inbound air ticket booking volume soared 819% in the 40-day rush period year on year, and the booking for inbound trips for the same period surged more than 10 times, according to statistics from Trip.com.

The travelers are mainly from countries including Japan, the U.S., South Korea, Malaysia, Australia, the U.K., Canada, Vietnam, Germany and Thailand, and their most favored Chinese destinations being Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu of Sichuan Province, Harbin in Heilongjiang Province, Qingdao in Shandong Province, Shenyang in Liaoning Province, Fujian Province’s Xiamen and Chongqing, it added.

The recovery of capacity in cross-border flights has also helped to lower ticket prices, which is a major factor in travelers’ decision-making, said Chen Bangguo, head of Trip.com’s air ticket division for East China.

(Xinhua, China Daily)