More Than 12.75 Million Passengers During 2023 Spring Festival; China Southern Safely Transports Massive Passenger Traffic

February 21, 2023 - During the recent Spring Festival travel season that lasted from January 7 to February 15, 2023, China Southern Air Holding Company Limited (including Xiamen Air) operated nearly 95,000 passenger flights - a year-on-year increase of about 32%, and safely transported more than 12.75 million passengers - a year-on-year increase of around 42%.

Passenger volume peaked during the period from the fifth to the tenth day of the first lunar month, with more than 380,000 passengers transported in a single day. 

During the 2023 Spring Festival, popular flights were mainly geared towards passengers who made vacation trips or travelled to visit their relatives.

More than 7,000 China Southern flights were operated with wide-body aircraft on over 120 routes to popular destinations including Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Hainan, as well as international and regional (Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) destinations.

Up to 240 commercial flights were operated per day during the peak travel period, including 16 daily flights between Beijing Daxing International Airport and Sanya.

Popular tourist routes include those from Guangzhou/Shenzhen to Lijiang, Dali and Xishuangbanna as well as those from across the country to Sanya and Haikou.

Given the rising demand for winter themed tourism packages, passengers overwhelmingly favored routes to leading domestic ice and snow destinations. Therefore, China Southern increased flight capacity to such destinations as Changbai Mountains and Altay with nearly 220 extra flights.

The most popular routes for passengers returning home to visit relatives include those from Guangzhou to Fuyang/Anqing/Heze/Ankang and from Shenzhen to Nanchong/Luzhou/Nanyang/Changde.

During the 2023 Spring Festival, China Southern also launched an online “Spring Festival Home Fight” themed service to meet the needs of passengers who were returning home to visit relatives, take a winter vacation or simply visit cities with a warmer climate.

The Company also launched the“interactive flights to six cities”flight challenge in the commercial markets of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hangzhou to provide a better travel experience during the Spring Festival.

In terms of passenger services, China Southern optimized all links of services to ensure the unimpeded transport of migrant workers and students taking winter vacations during the 2023 Spring Festival.

The Company offered seat reservation services to migrant workers, students and unaccompanied children and adopted proactive measures such as a “one-stop” connections, dedicated guidance and a special area for group check-in and baggage drop-off.

China Southern worked with security checks at the airports to open a“green”channel for late-arriving passengers, increased on-duty staff in key areas such as check-in, security check and lounge areas, and designated mobile service staff to solve travel problems for passengers proactively and efficiently.

China Southern made significant upgrades to its“worry-free”service for first-time passengers by setting up exclusive service counters to provide whole-process support.

The Company also provided“transit butler”services for transit passengers, opened 24-hour direct transit service counters, designated airport staff to coordinate with relevant parties such as departure airports and transfer airports to shorten the connection time and improve boarding efficiency and service experience.

In terms of air logistics, China Southern Air Logistics transported more than 110,000 tons of cargo during the Spring Festival, including seafood, fruits and e-commerce goods.

In order to ensure the safe, efficient transport of special goods made for the Spring Festival, China Southern Air Logistics operated a 24-hour cargo collection mode with designated staff to track the entire process and prioritize the movement of fresh products for transport.

Goods were collected as soon as they arrived at the airport as staff worked to shorten the time of receipt, transportation and sorting and then immediately loaded them onto each respective aircraft to the final destination.