Published on : 30/01/2024
The 2024 Spring Festival travel rush started on January 26 and will end on March 5, spanning 40 days. The Ministry of Transport estimates that during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, the nationwide interregional population mobility is expected to reach 9 billion passenger trips, possibly setting a new historical record.
The C919, China's self-developed large passenger aircraft also joined the Spring Festival travel rush this year, including routes from Beijing to Shanghai, and Shanghai to Chengdu.
80% of the 9 billion trips will be self-driving
This Spring Festival travel rush, it is reported that the national inter-regional population mobility will reach a record-breaking 9 billion trips, of which nearly 7.2 billion are self-driving, accounting for over 80% of the total population mobility.
In addition, the business passenger flow of railways, highways, waterways, and civil aviation will also fully recover, with a total exceeding 1.8 billion trips, a year-on-year increase of about 40%.
According to pre-sales of tickets, the top ten in national railway passenger flow on January 26 are: Shanghai Hongqiao Station, Guangzhou South Station, Beijing West Station, Beijing South Station, Shenzhen North Station, Nanjing South Station, Hangzhou East Station, Shanghai Station, Chengdu East Station, and Xi'an North Station. Passengers travel is mainly for family visits and tourism.
C919’s first flight during Spring Festival travel rush
The Guangzhou Baiyun station, the largest train station and transportation hub in Asia, makes its debut during the Spring Festival travel rush.
Also, the C919, China's self-developed large passenger aircraft has its 'first show' during the Spring Festival travel rush.
At 8:35 on January 26, all four C919 aircraft of China Eastern Airlines were put into operation, performing a total of 10 flights on the Beijing-Shanghai and Shanghai-Chengdu routes, carrying a total of 1,274 passengers.
The Civil Aviation Administration pointed out that this Spring Festival travel rush, the passenger transport volume of civil aviation is expected to break through 80 million, an increase of 9.8% from 2019 and an increase of 44.9% from 2023, expected to set a new historical record.
The most complex Spring Festival weather since 2008
However, the start of the Spring Festival travel is expected to encounter severe weather, possibly the most complex Spring Festival weather since 2008. Overall, Henan and Shandong will most likely be the centre areas of heavy snowfall.
The Central Meteorological Observatory predicts that from January 31 to February 5, there will be snowfall in the eastern part of the northwestern region, the north, the northeast, the Huang Huai, and other places. The western and northern parts of Jianghuai, the northwestern part of Hunan, the central and northern part of Guizhou, and other places will experience rain turning into sleet or snow. Most of these areas will have moderate to heavy snow, some areas will have blizzards, and some areas will have heavy or extremely heavy blizzards.
In addition, there will be moderate to heavy rain in most areas south of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and some areas will have heavy rain.
The core area affected by rain and snow—Hubei and Henan and other central areas—are precisely the traffic hubs that link the north, east, west, and south of the country. Experts say that we should pay close attention to the adverse effects of weather on the peak period of homebound travel during the Spring Festival.
Read more: Walking through 40 years of Spring Festival travel changes under the reform and opening up
