First in the nation! Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport sets a new record! Civil aviation Spring Festival travel season report card.
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March 13, 2026, Aviation Resource Network News: The 40-day 2026 Spring Festival travel rush concluded on March 13.
Airports
Record Broken! Baiyun Airport Becomes the First Airport in China to Exceed 10 Million Passenger Turnover During the Spring Festival Travel Rush
According to preliminary data, during the 39-day Spring Festival travel rush (February 2 to March 12, 2026), Baiyun Airport handled a total of 10.19 million passengers, exceeding the 10 million mark.
As the first major test of the Spring Festival travel rush after the opening of Terminal 3, Baiyun Airport's data was outstanding. On February 22 and February 23, it handled 283,400 and 286,400 passengers respectively, breaking the airport's historical single-day passenger volume records.
Zhengzhou Airport handled over 3.7 million passengers during the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush, with daily passenger volume exceeding 100,000 for eight consecutive days.
Over 40 days, Zhengzhou Airport handled over 3.7 million passengers, with eight days seeing over 700 flights, a peak of 727 flights. Daily passenger volume exceeded 100,000 for eight consecutive days, setting new records since the airport's opening. Looking back on the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, Zhengzhou Airport delivered an impressive performance with a series of record-breaking figures: it safely and efficiently handled the consistently high passenger volume, allowing travelers from all directions to enjoy the warm atmosphere of the Central Plains during their journeys at Terminal 2, resulting in a strong start to the Spring Festival consumption season.
This year's Spring Festival travel rush saw a convergence of student travel, migrant worker travel, family visit travel, and tourism travel, leading to a continuous surge in passenger volume at Zhengzhou Airport. Preliminary statistics show that Zhengzhou Airport handled a total of 26,700 flights during the Spring Festival travel rush, with an average of nearly 670 takeoffs and landings per day, and eight days seeing over 700 flights. On February 11th, the number of flights reached 727, setting a new record for daily flights since the airport opened.
During the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, Zhengzhou Airport witnessed a historic moment in passenger traffic: an average of approximately 93,000 passengers were handled daily. On February 20th (the fourth day of the Lunar New Year), the daily passenger throughput exceeded 100,000 for the first time in history, breaking the single-day passenger flow record since the airport opened in 1997. From February 20th to February 27th, the airport maintained a high level of passenger flow, exceeding 100,000 passengers daily for eight consecutive days, marking a milestone in the development history of Zhengzhou Airport.
Shandong Airports Successfully Completed Spring Festival Travel Rush Tasks
The 2026 Spring Festival travel rush has concluded. The Shandong Provincial Airport Management Group maintained a stable and positive market performance, handling approximately 30,000 flight takeoffs and landings and handling over 4 million passengers. Jinan and Dongying airports both achieved record-breaking Spring Festival travel volumes.
Domestically, flights from various airports to Guangzhou, Shenyang, Beijing, Nanjing, Wenzhou, Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Jieyang, Guiyang, Lijiang, Sanya, Yanji, Kashgar, and other destinations saw double-digit year-on-year growth in winter getaways, snow and ice tourism, and traditional Chinese New Year homestays. Airlines made advance preparations for flights to Guangzhou and Sanya, where market demand was high. Jinan Airport increased its wide-body aircraft capacity by 86% year-on-year, with peak-period wide-body flights to Hainan reaching three per day. Wide-body aircraft were deployed for the first time in recent years to Xiamen and Kunming. Internationally, for popular outbound destinations such as South Korea and Malaysia, Jinan Airport launched new routes to Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi, and increased the frequency of flights to Seoul. During the Spring Festival travel season, passenger volume to Seoul and Kuala Lumpur increased by 36% and 500% year-on-year, respectively.
Anhui Civil Aviation Airport Group Achieves Complete Success in Spring Festival Travel Rush
The Anhui Civil Aviation Airport Group successfully concluded its 2026 Spring Festival travel rush operations on March 13th, achieving record highs in both flight takeoffs and landings and passenger throughput. Preliminary statistics show that the group's four airports-Hefei, Huangshan, Chizhou, and Bozhou-handled over 13,000 flight takeoffs and landings, handling over 1.716 million passengers. The daily average number of flight takeoffs and landings was approximately 326, and the daily average number of passengers served was approximately 42,800, achieving the established goals of safe, smooth, and stable growth.
Hefei Airport: Hub Capacity Continues to Improve, Heartwarming Services Fully Upgraded
As an aviation hub in the Yangtze River Delta region, Hefei Airport saw record-breaking performance across all data points this year, thanks to the extended Spring Festival holiday and the combined effect of the "Travel Hefei with the Spring Festival Gala" promotion, demonstrating its continuously enhanced radiating capacity. According to preliminary statistics, Hefei Airport handled over 12,000 passenger flights, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%; passenger throughput exceeded 1.58 million, setting a new record for the Spring Festival travel rush, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%; the average load factor reached 85%, a year-on-year increase of 3 percentage points. On February 22 (the sixth day of the Lunar New Year), the single-day passenger throughput exceeded 47,000, breaking Hefei Airport's historical record for single-day passenger handling during the Spring Festival travel rush. During the Spring Festival travel rush, transit services became a major highlight of the airport, handling approximately 109,000 transit passengers, accounting for 6.9% of the total passenger throughput, a year-on-year increase of 39.2%.
Huangshan Airport: Deepening Service Efficiency, Steadily Improving Load Factor
Huangshan Airport has always adhered to a service-oriented approach, achieving steady improvement in service quality through meticulous efforts. During the Spring Festival travel rush, Huangshan Airport handled over 240 flights, handling over 21,000 passengers, with an average load factor of 77.9%, a year-on-year increase of 3.8 percentage points.
Chizhou Airport: A Remarkable Leap Forward with Significant Increases in All Indicators
Chizhou Airport achieved remarkable performance during this year's Spring Festival travel rush, with both flight volume and passenger volume experiencing leapfrog growth. It handled over 570 flight takeoffs and landings, a year-on-year increase of 162.7%; and handled over 64,200 passengers, a year-on-year increase of 163.6%. The average load factor reached 82.4%, a year-on-year increase of 5.8 percentage points.
Bozhou Airport: A Successful First Spring Festival Travel Rush Test Since Opening
As a new member of the airport network scheduled to open in November 2025, Bozhou Airport successfully completed its first Spring Festival travel rush test since opening, handling 436 flight takeoffs and landings and handling over 44,800 passengers. During the Spring Festival travel rush, Bozhou Airport operated routes to 10 cities including Shenzhen, Shenyang, Nanning, Harbin, Beijing, Haikou, Changchun, Kunming, Tianjin, and Xiamen, further building and improving the air corridor connecting northern Anhui to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, Northeast China, and Southwest China.
Airlines
China Eastern Airlines transported 18.15 million passengers, setting multiple new records.
China Eastern Airlines, along with its subsidiaries Shanghai Airlines and China United Airlines, operated a total of 124,000 passenger flights, an increase of 0.3% year-on-year; it transported a total of 18.15 million passengers, an increase of 4.1% year-on-year.
The peak travel period for this year's Spring Festival travel rush occurred on February 22 (the sixth day of the Lunar New Year). On that day, China Eastern Airlines operated 3,287 flights, transporting 526,000 passengers, setting a new single-day passenger record for the airline.
As the largest home-based airline in Shanghai, China Eastern Airlines served over 41,800 flights at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and Pudong Airport during this year's Spring Festival travel rush, an increase of 1.2% year-on-year, serving over 6.91 million passengers, an increase of 5.3% year-on-year, also a record high.
During this year's Spring Festival travel rush, China Eastern Airlines operated 14 domestically produced C919 large passenger aircraft on 18 routes to 14 cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Guangzhou, Taiyuan, Chongqing, Wuhan, Hong Kong, Shenyang, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Lanzhou, and Zhuhai, carrying a total of 1,851 flights and transporting 265,400 passengers.
China Southern Airlines Guizhou Branch handled 520,000 passengers.
From February 2nd to March 13th, the 40-day 2026 Spring Festival travel rush successfully concluded. During this period, China Southern Airlines Guizhou Branch handled a total of 520,000 passengers and 3,979 flights to and from Guiyang, handling 2,978.8 tons of cargo and mail and over 270,000 pieces of baggage. The average daily aircraft utilization rate exceeded 11 hours. With the spirit of "Guizhou Airlines connecting Guizhou," the airline expanded its route network, strengthened safety measures, and upgraded service quality, adding a bright Guizhou touch to a mobile China.
9 Air operated over 5,500 flights, transporting more than 800,000 passengers for family visits and travel.
During the Spring Festival travel rush, 9 Air deployed 26 aircraft at full capacity, operating over 5,500 flights and transporting over 800,000 passengers. Popular routes such as Guangzhou-Harbin and Guangzhou-Haikou achieved an average load factor exceeding 95%. Furthermore, outbound travel and "reverse travel" during this year's Spring Festival travel rush are becoming new trends in air travel consumption.
9 Air responded to these new trends by deploying all its flight capacity. This year's Spring Festival travel rush still exhibited a significant "double peak" characteristic-the pre-holiday travel rush for family visits and the post-holiday return travel rush for students and other members of the public formed a double peak. Notably, the "reverse travel for the Spring Festival" trend has significantly increased this year. Data from 9 Air shows that during the 2026 Spring Festival holiday, routes from second- and third-tier cities to first-tier cities like Guangzhou saw a significant increase in popularity for "reverse travel," with ticket sales on routes such as Harbin-Guangzhou and Guiyang-Wuxi increasing by more than 1.5 times compared to the 2025 Spring Festival travel season. This change directly boosted inbound passenger traffic to destination cities like Guangzhou and Wuxi for 9 Air, prompting the company to increase flight frequency to provide more travel options for "reverse travel" passengers. Furthermore, "cross-border travel" also performed strongly. During the Spring Festival travel season, 9 Air operated routes to countries such as Thailand, Laos, and Malaysia, carrying over 58,000 passengers. Among these, inbound travel from Southeast Asia saw significant growth, with the number of passengers increasing by over 68% compared to the same period last year. This year, 9 Air became a high-value option for "cross-border travel" passengers during the Spring Festival travel season. The 2026 Spring Festival travel rush (Year of the Horse) presented new trends in air travel consumption, including "reverse travel" and "cross-border travel."
Hunan Airlines safely transported over 450,000 passengers during the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush.
During the Spring Festival travel rush, Hunan Airlines operated a total of 2,745 flights, safely transporting over 450,000 passengers. Flight volume and passenger volume increased by 8% and 11% respectively compared to the 2025 Spring Festival travel rush. It served 37 cities with 48 routes, covering many popular cities such as Changsha, Kunming, Harbin, Nanjing, Haikou, and Xishuangbanna.
In response to the tourism boom of "heading north for ice and snow and heading south to escape the cold" and the special passenger flow brought about by "reverse travel," Hunan Airlines scientifically arranged flight capacity based on in-depth analysis and judgment in the early stage. The focus will be on increasing flights connecting popular tourist destinations, increasing the frequency of flights on routes such as Changsha-Mangshi, Changsha-Baoshan, Changsha-Xining, and Kunming-Qingdao-Hailar, which are popular for "ice and snow tourism" and "warm winter tourism". At the same time, attention will be paid to the "reverse reunion" customer group, and additional routes such as Changsha-Hangzhou, Kunming-Changsha-Jieyang, Shenzhen-Baoshan, and Nanjing-Xining will be added to facilitate the elderly and children to travel to their children's workplaces to spend the Spring Festival together.