China sees surging passenger trips during May Day holiday

BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Total passenger trips made during China's May Day holiday are expected to reach 267 million, representing a significant increase compared with the same period last year, according to official data.

The average daily passenger trips are expected to exceed 53.47 million, up 122.2 percent year on year, the Ministry of Transport said on Wednesday.

As China made notable progress in COVID-19 prevention and control, people's travel demand was unleashed during the five-day holiday.

Nearly 18.83 million railway passenger trips were made on Saturday, the first day of the holiday, marking an increase of 9.2 percent from the 2019 level and hitting a new single-day high.

The civil aviation sector handled an estimate of 8.66 million passenger trips during the period, up 173.9 percent from a year earlier and basically in line with the 2019 level.

The May Day holiday lasts from May 1 to 5 this year.