(Yicai) Jan. 9 -- The demand for flights during the approaching 40-day travel rush for the lunar new year holiday will likely hit a record high, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Some 80 million passengers are expected to travel by air between Jan. 26 and March 5, up 45 on last year and 10 percent on the pre-pandemic level in 2019, Liang Nan, director of the CAAC’s transport department, said at a press conference yesterday.

Air passenger traffic soared 39 percent to 55 million during last year’s Chinese New Year travel rush, the first after the government eased Covid-19 restrictions.

During the Spring Festival, as Chinese New Year is called in China, millions of people choose to return to their home towns to celebrate or make trips in the country or abroad, often setting new records for air travel demand.

This year’s break is expected to have an average of 16,500 passenger flights a day, up 24 percent from last year and basically the same as in 2019. As the increase in flights is less than that for passengers, load factors and ticket prices will be higher, Yicai learned at the press briefing.

The demand for international flights is expected to pick up over the Spring Festival thanks to the opening up of more routes and more liberal visa policies. Chinese airlines plan to add more than 2,500 international flights for the 40 days, most of which are destined for Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea, Liang noted.

China’s passenger traffic and cargo and mail throughput reached 620 million people and 7.4 million tons last year, accounting for 94 percent and 98 percent, respectively, of 2019’s level, according to CAAC statistics.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione