Hainan handles over 5 mln air passengers during Spring Festival travel rush

More than 5 million passengers traveled via two major airports in southern China's island province of Hainan during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, which ended on Friday.

Haikou Meilan International Airport in the provincial capital handled 19,673 flights and its passenger throughput hit 2.46 million, with those figures respectively increasing 35.4 percent and 37.2 percent year on year.

Sanya Phoenix International Airport handled 16,424 flights and approximately 2.54 million passengers, up 21.2 percent and 24.3 percent year on year.

The Spring Festival peak travel period in 2022 lasted from Jan. 17 to Feb. 25. During the travel season, many Chinese people chose to travel to the tropical island for the Chinese Lunar New Year, which was celebrated on Feb. 1 this year.