Transport operators across the Great Bay Area (GBA) are preparing for a travel rush at Lunar New Year – also called the Spring Festival – when the so-called Chun Yun migration will see
a record-breaking 9 billion journeys made nationwide between 26 January to 5 March.
According to China’s deputy transport minister, Li Yang, who spoke at a press conference yesterday, 1.8 billion of these passenger trips will be conducted via railway, waterways, highways and domestic flights, while the remaining 7.2 billion trips will be made on regular roads.
In response to the high travel demand during this period, GBA transport operators have boosted their capacity. Air Macau announced on WeChat yesterday that it would be adding additional flights between Macao and Chengdu on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 1 to 29 February.
China Southern will be increasing its flights between Shenzhen and 14 other destinations in mainland China to 904 during the Lunar New Year period.
[See more: Here’s how to get to some of the Greater Bay Area cities from Macao]
Coach stations across Guangzhou are also adding more services to meet with the increased demand.
Across China, more trains will be added, with 12,700 trains planned for the period before the start of the Lunar New Year Festival on 10 February, and 12,800 for the weeks thereafter.
Locally, additions to existing bus routes and stops are expected in order to accommodate festive events and the increase in the number of visitors to Macao, as was the case last year.
Considered to be the largest annual migration of people in the world, Chun Yun is an event that sees many Chinese returning to their hometowns for family reunions.
