BEIJING -
China's civil aviation regulator has given the
green light for eight airlines to add a combined
8,400 flights around the Spring Festival period,
China's lunar New Year, in an effort to relieve
expected huge passenger flows.
The General
Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC)
predicted that the Chinese would make more than 2
billion trips
during Spring Festival, which
falls on January 29 this year, and flights will be
increased through February 22.
A CAAC
official said that as the number of flights will
be increased by more than 10% from a year earlier,
travelers' demands can be fully met. Historically,
there have been shortages of air tickets during
the Chinese New Year holiday.
The eight
airlines involved are Air China, China Eastern
Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Xiamen
Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, and Shandong Airlines.
More flights would be arranged in
Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as the other major
cities of Chongqing, Chengdu,
Haikou, Sanya, Harbin, Wenzhou, Xi'an, Hefei and
Hangzhou. Meanwhile, the CAAC official said proper
support would be given for air carriers to add
flights in western and undeveloped regions.
Air ticket supplies are sufficient for
this year's red-letter day, while air-ticket
prices would go up tangibly, Wang Yili, a manager
of China's air-ticket online booking network Yoee,
said.
