HAIKOU /China/, January 19. /TASS/. Passenger traffic at Phoenix International Airport of Sanya city (southern Hainan province) during the period of mass travels of China's population during the Lunar New Year vacations is expected to exceed 2.86 million people. That's according to the local information portal Nanhaiwan.
This year, New Year travel will officially begin on January 26 and end on March 5. A special term has even been coined for what happens in China at this time - "chunyun" ("spring migration"). At this time, there is a significant increase in the flow of domestic tourism, and Hainan island is one of the key destinations.
Phoenix Airport is expected to handle 14,700 flights during this time. The airport authority has already taken several measures to cope with the increasing passenger traffic, and airlines are putting wide-body planes on the most demanded flights. Such domestic destinations include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Kunming, Xi'an and Chongqing. As for international routes, passenger traffic is expected to increase on flights to Moscow, London, Bangkok, Singapore, Seoul, Astana and Ulaanbaatar.
The New Year according to the lunar calendar this year falls on February 10. A "golden week" of days off will be declared across the country. However, many people in China go on New Year's trips long before the official start of the holiday vacation.