As the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday drew to a close on 22 February, China’s transport authorities warned of the busiest return-journey day since border re-opening. CCTV reported that cross-regional passenger movements were expected to hit 360 million on the day, with inbound and outbound flows at international airports approaching 2 million people. Rail and aviation were stretched to capacity. China State Railway Group ran 551 extra trains on southwest routes alone, while the Civil Aviation Administration approved 3,200 ad-hoc domestic and 420 international flights between 19-24 February. Beijing Capital, Shanghai Pudong and Guangzhou Baiyun airports opened temporary e-gates to keep queue times under 30 minutes, in line with National Immigration Administration (NIA) targets. For global-mobility managers the message is clear: allow extra buffer time for staff returning to China offices the week of 24 February and reconfirm booked seats, especially on Guangzhou-Hong Kong and Beijing-Tokyo shuttles that are operating at 98 % load factors. The surge offered a real-time stress test of China’s new smart-border controls. Biometric kiosks trialled at Shenzhen Bao’an processed 1,200 passengers per hour with fewer than five false rejections, according to airport data. Authorities also debuted a ‘green lane’ for foreign nationals with connecting flights of under three hours—useful for expatriates based in Singapore or Seoul. While the crowds underline a robust domestic recovery, they also expose pinch-points: car-ferry tickets across the Qiongzhou Strait sold out 48 hours in advance, and Hainan resorts reported hour-long queues at tax-refund counters. The Ministry of Transport said lessons learned this week will feed into planning for the Qingming holiday in April.
Source: CCTV News
