During the Spring Festival travel season in 2025, all units in the civil aviation system upheld the principles of safety first and people-centered service, implemented comprehensive planning and measures in terms of transport capacity allocation, operational safety, passenger services and bad weather responses, ensuring safe, convenient and comfortable travel for the public.

In general, this year's Spring Festival travel season in civil aviation mainly shows the following four characteristics:

First, the demand for civil aviation transport increased steadily. Driven by multiple positive factors, passenger demand during the Spring Festival travel season saw a significant increase compared to previous years. Domestic travel concentrated in the "4+2+N" network, with routes connecting Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu serving as the backbone of holiday air transport. Demand was particularly strong for flights to and from Northeast China, Hainan, and popular winter and warm-weather destinations such as Urumqi and Kunming. Chaoshan, Fuzhou, Wuxi, Langzhong where rich traditional Chinese New Year culture could be experienced registered notable increase of passenger traffic. At the same time, the further expansion of China's visa-free policy boosted the demand for cross-border travel, as shown by an average daily number of 1,921 international passenger flights (round-trip), an increase of 27.1% over the same period of 2024.

Second, air travel peak was reached during the Spring Festival holiday. The civil aviation travel season has evolved from a few peak days to sustained high demand throughout the month of Spring Festival. Except for Chinese New Year's Eve, the daily passenger volume remained above 2 million, with a more stable trend compared to previous years. During the Spring Festival holiday, a total of 18.24 million passengers travelled by air, with a daily average of 2.28 million, setting a record high for the holiday period. February 3 marked the peak for passengers to return to workplace, with 2.48 million passengers transported in a single day, the highest daily passenger volume ever recorded.

Third, the transport structure of China's civil aviation has been optimized. CAAC worked closely with industry stakeholders to analyze travel patterns, make science-based demand forecast, and dynamically adjusted capacity resources based on market supply and demand. As a result, the average daily passenger load factor reached 84.5% during the Spring Festival travel season. All-out efforts were made to support air transport for the Harbin Asian Winter Games including efficient resource allocation and enhanced service capabilities that secured the smooth operation of 867 related flights, achieving the expected goal of seamless arrivals and departures for the event. Additionally, coordinated efforts were made to optimize transport capacity across airports in Hainan, enhance multimodal transport connections, satisfy passenger transport and distribution demand, and improve overall operational efficiency. A total of 47,000 inbound and outbound flights were handled for Hainan Island, a 10% year-on-year increase, effectively meeting the region's growing passenger demand.

Fourth, the service quality has been improved continuously. Airlines, airports and other service providers adhered to the principle of "integration of services and operations", focusing on flight punctuality and information updates, and continuously optimizing service processes. In addition, the civil aviation service providers have also made concerted efforts to enhance services for the elderly, the disabled and other special groups while promoting the implementation of payment facilitation and other measures to make it easier for foreigners to visit China. These measures helped stimulate both domestic and international consumer demand through high-quality civil aviation services.