Nation set for 1.4 billion cross-province trips in 1st week of Spring Festival travel rush

Passengers hold Spring Festival-themed banners on board the G6701 high-speed train from Beijing to Handan, North China's Hebei Province on February 2, 2026, the first day of the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush. Photo: Chen Tao/GT

China's official data on Sunday showed that cross-provincial trips are expected to surpass 1.4 billion during the opening week of the Spring Festival travel rush, underscoring a period of robust travel activity.

On average, daily cross-provincial trips will reach 201.89 million, representing a 2-percent increase year on year, the People's Daily reported, citing data from the Ministry of Transport.

China kicked off its annual population migration on February 2, 15 days ahead of the Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year. A total of 9.5 billion trips are expected to be made during this year's 40-day travel rush period that will end on March 13, setting a historic high.

Amid the Spring Festival travel rush, road journeys continue to be the primary mode of transport, making up around 80 percent of all trips. Rail travel is expected to handle approximately 540 million passengers, while civil aviation will see around 95 million. Both the total volume and daily peak traffic for rail and air travel are forecast to set new records, according to Li Chunlin, an official from the National Development and Reform Commission, on January 29.

Specifically, in the first week, railway passenger traffic is estimated to reach 86.02 million, with a daily average of 12.29 million, up 0.2 percent year-on-year. Waterway passenger traffic is estimated at 4.89 million with a daily average of 699,000, up 14.7 percent year-on-year. Civil aviation passenger traffic is estimated at 16.32 million passengers, with a daily average of 2.33 million, up 6.1 percent year-on-year.

Chinese airlines are stepping up preparations for the travel peak.

Air China said in a press release shared with the Global Times on February 2 that during the 2026 Spring Festival travel season, it plans to operate over 70,000 flights, representing a 10.1 percent increase compared to the previous year.

The carrier also said the capacity deployment in Northeast China has increased by 15 percent compared to 2025's Spring Festival travel season. All flights on popular routes, such as those to Sanya, will be operated with wide-body aircraft. Nine domestically produced C919 aircraft will be deployed for the Spring Festival travel rush, operating flights on routes from Beijing to cities including Hangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan and Xi'an.

A Beijing Capital International Airport representative told the Global Times that the airport is expected to handle 7.89 million passengers, averaging 197,000 daily. It is projected that the number of flights handled during this year's Spring Festival travel season will increase by approximately 1.3 percent compared to the same period in 2025, while passenger traffic is expected to rise by about 1.5 percent year-on-year.

The first week also witnessed a slight increase of travelers driving themselves, with the road traffic expected to increase 2.1 percent year on year.

According to Didi Chuxing data, since the start of the Spring Festival travel season, demand for out-of-town rides on the platform has increased by 23 percent compared to usual days. Demand for rides in the country's four first-tier cities is expected to increase by 21 percent year-on-year before the arrival of the Spring Festival which falls on February 17, the report said.

Car rentals have become a new popular choice for public travel. During this year's Spring Festival holiday, daily car rentals across the country are expected to see double-digit year-on-year growth, the report said.

According to data from CAR Inc, a domestic car rental service provider, cross-city travel bookings have surged by over 70 percent since the start of the Spring Festival travel rush, while bookings for new energy vehicle models have increased sixfold compared to the same period in 2025.

The ministry said that from Wednesday to Sunday, cross-regional mobility nationwide increased for five consecutive days with an accelerating growth trend. The peak for pre-holiday passenger traffic is expected to be reached around Saturday.