Passengers wait in lines to check in at the Sanya Phoenix International Airport in South China's Hainan Province on January 17, 2023. Photo: Lin Xiaoyi/GT

Year-to-date passenger traffic at the Sanya Phoenix International Airport in South China's Hainan Province was estimated to top 1 million by Tuesday, the fastest growth since 2021, airport data showed, fresh evidence of the economy's swift rebound from the coronavirus.

A barometer of domestic tourism, the Sanya airport is on track for its best year since the viral onslaught in 2020, as measured by passengers flow for the annual Spring Festival travel rush, airport executives told the Global Times. 

They disclosed plans for an updated international terminal and a massive duty-free complex to be completed later this year, with the projects expedited by the grand blueprint for the Hainan free trade port.

The Tuesday data suggested it took 17 days this year to serve 1 million passengers. Last year it took 19 days and in 2021 it took 20 days, according to data obtained by the Global Times. It took only 15 days to reach the level in 2020, before the pandemic outbreak.

Passengers wait in lines to check in at the Sanya Phoenix International Airport in South China's Hainan Province on January 17, 2023. Photo: Li Qiaoyi/GT

As passengers from across the country come to enjoy the first unlimited Spring Festival since the epidemic began, a brisk recovery in passenger traffic is developing at the Sanya airport.

During the 2023 Spring Festival travel rush, which runs from January 7 to February 15, the airport is expected to handle 2.74 million passengers, Yang Na, general manager of the airport's Ground Service Department, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

That compares with 2.54 million for the same period of 2022, 2.04 million in 2021 and 1.65 million in 2020.

"From a call for staying put to targeted viral containment efforts that varied among regions, to the current optimization of viral response ahead of the Spring Festival holidays … [the airport] has in recent years seen an uptrend in passenger traffic and logistics needs, amid a continued revival in local tourism," Yang said.

Due to the surge in passengers, the airport has added phone lines for the passenger service hotline and set up additional customer service counters. It has also organized welcome activities to create a warm holiday atmosphere and make passengers feel at home, she added. 

The busy airport will align its expansion strategy with a consumer market revival as well as Hainan's free trade port plan, with an independent customs system to be phased in by 2025. 

The updated international terminal, among the first projects to be started for the island-wide customs closure operation of the Hainan free trade port, is under construction. It is scheduled to open in the third quarter this year, according to Zhang Zheng, general manager of the airport's Business Development Department.

The airport is resuming international passenger and cargo flights. It has opened cargo routes to Singapore and plans to launch more cargo routes to Southeast Asia. As for passengers, priority will go to regional routes like Hong Kong and Macao. South Korea and Southeast Asia and Russia will come next, he revealed. 

The airport upgraded its duty-free business with the opening of a new area at the end of December 2022. The airport is also fast-tracking the launch of a new 5,000 square meter duty-free complex, scheduled to open soon, Zhang said.