Passengers at Urumqi Diwopu International Airport in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, line up at flight check-in counters, on June 20, 2023. Photo: VCG

As summer vacations travel season dawns, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has ushered in a travel peak, with the region's passenger and freight volumes at the airports setting new records, according to local media outlet ts.cn on Monday.

Data shows that growth momentum for tourism across Xinjiang Airport Group has largely recovered, which is expected to reach the daily level of the same period in 2019, reflecting a strong recovery momentum.

Xinjiang Airport Group's single-day passenger transfers hit a record high of 150,800 passengers on July 8, breaking the 2019 record high of 132,000 passengers in a single day.

With the resumption of all routes between Urumqi city, the capital city of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and Central Asian countries, a total of 14 international routes of Urumqi International Airport have been resumed so far.

The number of flights from Urumqi to Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Xi'an, Zhengzhou and other domestic cities has exceeded 15 every day now. On June 28, the single-day passenger volume of the city exceeded 90,000, the highest number in the region's history.

From January to June this year, Urumqi received a total of more than 40 million domestic tourists, a year-on-year increase of 33.35 percent, achieving tourism revenue of 34.8 billion yuan, up 74.32 percent.

As Xinjiang welcomes the travel peak for melon and other fruits transportation, domestic cargo terminal of Urumqi International Airport has contacted with airports, airlines and freight forwarders in advance, in order to provide smooth traffic services.

In June, the highest single-day air transport volume reached 300 tons, setting another record, while cargo throughput for the month reached 9,300 tons, growing 33.14 percent year-on-year.

In addition to Urumqi, transport volume of other airports in Xinjiang including Kashi, Karamay and Aksu have all exceeded historic records.

On July 8, the single-day passenger volume at Karamay Guhai Airport totaled 2,156, setting a new record in 2023. In July, the airport added and resumed a number of routes including Shanghai, Beijing, Lanzhou and Zhengzhou, to further facilitate local tourism development.


Global Times