Air China to operate over 70,000 flights during 2026 Spring Festival travel rush

BEIJING, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Air China on Monday said it plans to operate more than 70,000 flights during the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush, up 10.1 percent from the corresponding travel rush period of 2025.

Key routes between major city clusters, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Chengdu-Chongqing region, will maintain high-frequency services, the airline said.

Passenger capacities on flights to northeast China will rise 15 percent from last year's travel rush, and popular routes such as those to Sanya will be served entirely by wide-body aircraft, according to the company.

Nine homegrown C919 aircraft will also be deployed on flights from Beijing to cities such as Hangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan and Xi'an during the peak travel period.

Internationally, Air China will add flights to destinations like Sydney, Auckland, Singapore, Seoul and Bangkok to meet cross-border travel demand.