On December 31, 2024, passengers walk through the T2 terminal of Shanghai Pudong International Airport with their children. Photo:VCG

The overseas travel is expected to reach a new peak during the upcoming Spring Festival holidays, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Friday.

As China's visa-free "circle of friends" further expands, and with the growing popularity of payment facilitation and other measures for foreign travelers, the international market of Spring Festival travel period is expected to reach its peak, as both outbound and inbound travel demand increases, Xu Qing, an official from CAAC said at a regular press conference. 

The most popular travel destinations include neighboring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Japan, Xu said.

The peak travel days are expected to be from January 25 to 27 before the Spring Festival and from February 4 to 7 after the Spring Festival, Xu added. 

Booming data from China's online travel agency Trip.com showed that during the Spring Festival holidays in 2025, the number of travel orders from foreign tourists visiting China is projected to grow by 203 percent year-on-year. 

The main source countries will include South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. Foreign tourists show a strong preference for Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, and Harbin as their top destinations.

CAAC said that preliminary statistics show the aviation industry handled more than 730 million passenger trips in 2024, a record high, and the passenger transport volume is expected to exceed 90 million in the coming Spring Festival holidays, setting a new record. 

Xu said that during this year's Spring Festival travel period, the country's average number of daily flights is projected to reach 18,500, a year-on-year increase of 8.4 percent.

Chinese airlines are also gearing up for more routes. China Southern Airlines has increased flights to Southeast Asian destinations, including doubling the number of round trips between Guangzhou to Phuket to 14 per week starting December 13 and doubling the Guangzhou-Sabah route to 14 round trips a week from December 18.

The Shenyang-Bangkok route is set to resume from January 11, offering four round-trips per week, and the Changsha-Singapore route will be resumed from January 15, 2025, with four round-trips per week, China Southern said. 

Hainan Airlines also introduced a new Lanzhou-Singapore route with a stop in Haikou on Wednesday, and subsequently launched a Yichang-Singapore route with a stop in Haikou on Thursday.

The visa-free policy is a key initiative to promote people-to-people exchanges and business interactions and advance high-standard opening-up. 

The latest flight expansion comes as China announced on December 17 a significant relaxation of its visa-free transit policy, allowing eligible foreign travelers to stay up to 240 hours (10 days), an increase from the previous limits of 72 and 144 hours, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Global Times