Baotou Railway Station handled some 36,000 passengers on Jan 10, the day marking the beginning of this year’s Spring Festival travel rush which will last roughly 40 days and finish on Feb 18, according to a report in the Baotou Daily.

The railway station is expected to handle 1.03 million passengers during the entire period, 20,600 more than last year. Rail officials said the daily average is expected to be 25,800 passengers.

During the holiday travel rush, Baotou Airport is expected to operate 2,000 flights and handle 200,000 passengers.

Hot destinations will include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou in Guangdong province, Sanya in Hainan province, Shenzhen in Guangdong province and Zhengzhou in Henan province.

Aviation officials said the airport has coordinated with domestic airlines including Hainan Airlines, China United Airlines, and Huaxia Airlines to meet passengers’ needs.

The airport has reopened a direct flight linking Baotou with Sanya.

The Baotou-Hefei air route has been increased to seven flights per week. The Baotou-Daxing Beijing direct flight is scheduled to fly once a day. The Baotou-Taiyuan flight is to fly three times daily and the Baotou-Tianjin flight will operate three times a day.

In addition, the airport has launched international flights including a flight linking Nha Trang in Vietnam.

Passengers stream through a gate at Baotou Railway Station on Jan 10, the first day of this year’s Spring Festival travel rush. [Photo/Baotou Daily]