Over 1.4 bln trips expected in first week of China’s Spring Festival travel rush

More than 1.413 billion cross-regional passenger trips were estimated nationwide during the first week of China's 2026 Spring Festival travel rush, the country's Ministry of Transport said Sunday.

Average daily cross-provincial passenger trips are expected to exceed 200 million, up 2 percent year on year, according to the ministry.

The Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year, falls on Feb 17 this year. This year's Spring Festival official holiday lasts nine days, with the travel rush running through March 13.

Each year during this period, millions of people working, studying or living away from their hometowns travel home for the Spring Festival, China's most important traditional holiday.

The country's railway system has seen increasing passenger traffic during the first week of the travel rush. On Sunday, railways nationwide were expected to handle 13.25 million passenger trips, with 1,688 extra passenger trains scheduled to meet travel demand.

Self-driving trips have dominated the total travel, with the road traffic increasing 2.1 percent year on year since the Spring Festival travel rush began.

Civil aviation passenger volumes have also experienced a surge. On Sunday, the country's civil aviation sector was expected to carry 2.39 million passengers on an estimated 19,614 flights, marking a year-on-year increase of 7.5 percent.