The first week of the Spring Festival travel rush in 2025 witnessed a significant increase in outbound and inbound passengers at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. Nearly 730,000 people traveled through the airport, with over 4,600 flights, increases of 33.5 percent and 29.4 percent, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Daily average traffic exceeded 100,000 people, peaking at 111,000 on Jan 19.

Pudong Airport witnesses an increasing number of both outbound and inbound passengers in the first week of the Spring Festival travel rush in 2025. [Photo/WeChat ID: pdnews]

Multiple factors contributed to this surge, including short family trips abroad, overseas Chinese returning home for the holidays, and international students coming back from abroad. Over 530,000 Chinese mainland residents traveled through Pudong Airport, accounting for more than 70 percent of all travelers. Popular destinations for outbound travel included neighboring countries such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.

After the start of winter vacation for primary and secondary schools, family trips became the main force for outbound travel. With the expansion of visa-free and mutual visa exemption agreements between China and several countries, an increasing number of families are choosing short trips abroad. Inbound travel also saw a notable increase, with many overseas Chinese returning home for the holidays. The number of international visitors entering China reached 65,000, an increase of 70 percent compared to last year, with more than half entering visa-free.

To cope with the high traffic, the Shanghai Airport Immigration Inspection Station has taken various measures, including closely monitoring flight schedules, strengthening passenger flow analysis, scientifically deploying police forces, and opening additional channels during peak hours to ensure smooth and efficient passenger flow. Passengers are reminded to seek help from on-duty police if they encounter problems during customs clearance.