Spring Festival travel rush gets started

The carrier is expected to help passengers complete about 8.6 million trips during this year's chunyun, he said.

Air China expects to provide around 3,200 additional domestic flights and more than 400 international flights to serve the transport rush.

China Southern Airlines, another major carrier, said it will provide more than 8,000 additional flights during the holiday period, raising the total number to nearly 90,000, a 27 percent increase from last year, the company said in a statement.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China forecast that more than 47 million trips will be made by air during this year's chunyun, and it has arranged for Chinese airlines to add 8,740 domestic flights and 3,052 international flights to deal with the passenger surge, according to Wang Zhiqing, deputy director of the administration.

Wang Hanlin, deputy manager of Beijing Capital International Airport's operations and management center, said the airport will handle nearly 10 million trips during the chunyun, averaging 245,900 each day.

The two civil airports in Shanghai are expecting a total passenger load of up to 10 million, while the Guangzhou airport will deal with 6.9 million trips, company forecasts say.

Guan Hongjun, deputy chief of the patrol team at the airport police's West Terminal station, said passengers should be prepared for possible congestion at the airport and for flight delays.

"During the chunyun, passengers are likely to encounter delays caused by bad weather at the airport, along the flight route or at their destination because it often snows during the period," he said.

He reminded passengers to maintain civil behavior through the stresses and strains they are likely to encounter.

"Passengers should assert their rights through lawful means rather than irrational actions," he said.

Several incidents involving angry airline passengers occurred over the past two years, triggered by delays.