China braces for Golden Week travel rush
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
Roads, railways and airports in China are bracing for a surge in traffic this week, as the country’s week-long National Day holiday period gets underway.
Airlines in China will operate more than 3,800 extra flights this week, to cater for the increase in demand for travel during the ‘Golden Week’ holidays. According to figures from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), approximately 7.2 million passengers are expected to travel by air from 1-7 October 2013, up 8.3% compared to the corresponding period last week.
To cater for this rise, Chinese carriers will lay on an extra 3,812 domestic and international flights this week, in addition to the existing 12,000 daily flights operating in the country.
The CAAC said that more than 2,400 of the extra flights would serve major domestic cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan. A further 1,200 will be international services, with popular destinations including Bangkok, Seoul and Siem Reap.
In addition to the rise in air traffic, China’s Ministry of Transport has estimated that more than 610m passengers are expected to travel on the country’s roads and waterways this Golden Week, 6.0% up year-on-year.
Xinhua reported Ministry spokesperson, Liang Xiao’an, telling a press conference on Thursday that an average of 87m people per day will travel overland during the 1-7 October 2013 period, not including railways. Approximately 600m will travel by road, 6.1% more than the same period last year, and toll highways will be free for cars.
The toll-free system was introduced during last year’s National Day holidays, and initially appeared to backfire as tens of thousands more cars took to the roads, causing major tailbacks.
Similar to the demand for air travel, Liang predicted that traffic would be busiest around major tourist centres such as Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government has reduced ticket prices at 1,400 scenic tourist spots this week. The country’s National Reform & Development Council (NDRC) said it wanted to stop destinations cashing in on the travel boom.
Comments are closed.