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China’s 10 Busiest Routes Around The Lunar New Year

China’s Lunar New Year travel period, known as Chunyun in Chinese, is the world’s largest annual migration of people that will see up to 9 billion domestic trips over a 40-day period. While the majority of travel takes place by road, air travel is still a significant part of the experience.
Airlines and airports around this travel period – which starts 15 days before the Lunar New Year for a 40-day period – will be stretched at full capacity, making it important to make the necessary operational adjustments and bring in extra staff. On the first day of Chunyun this year, over 2 million people traveled by air out of over 170 million overall travelers on that day.
Things are really expected to peak as we approach the Lunar New Year, which this year runs from January 28th to February 4th. Authorities have projected around 90 million people will travel by air during the full 40-day rush, which is primarily made up of domestic trips but also includes demand for international services. So what are China’s 10 busiest air routes for this Lunar New Year?
1 Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) – Shenzhen Bao’an (SZX)
750 miles, 517 flights and up to 38 daily frequencies
The busiest route this Lunar New Year travel season will be between Shanghai Hongqiao and Shenzhen Bao’an. These two metropolitan powerhouses see a huge amount of business and tourism travel between one another, with this route currently served by 11 domestic carriers offering over 95,000 seats each way.
The majority of domestic flights into Shanghai arrive at Shanghai Hongqiao, with 517 flights scheduled on this route between January 26th and February 8th. However, if we add Shanghai’s other airport, Shanghai Pudong (PVG), into the mix, this adds another 172 flights, meaning there will be almost 700 roundtrips between Shanghai and Shenzhen over the space of 14 days, amounting to over 49 daily flights.
Related Shanghai: China’s First Dual International Airport City In 1999, Shanghai became the first city in China to have two international airports. The second city, Beijing, achieved this milestone in 2019.
2 Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) – Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN)
730 miles, 481 flights with nine airlines
Another route between Shanghai and Southern China takes the second-busiest spot with Shanghai Hongqiao – Guangzhou Baiyun scheduled for 481 flights and 108,491 seats each way during the upcoming two-week travel window. Clocking in at a similar distance as Shanghai – Shenzhen, there will be a peak 35 roundtrips on this route.
There will also be extensive service to Guangzhou out of Shanghai Pudong with over 250 flights scheduled. The data shows there are currently nine carriers active on this route operating a peak 35 daily frequencies.
3 Beijing Capital (PEK) → Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA)
667 miles, 467 flights, over 800 flights between the two cities overall
Shanghai’s domestic airport makes up all three of the busiest routes this Lunar New Year with its connection to Beijing Capital International, the capital city’s busiest airport. However, air service between these two cities is possible via other airport pairings too – for example, Shanghai Hongqiao and Beijing’s other airport – Beijing Daxing (PKX) – will see over 100 flights this holiday period.
Photo: Wenjie Zheng | Shutterstock
Related Once The World’s Second Busiest Airport: Beijing Capital Beijing opened a new airport in 2019, but the older Beijing Capital remains busy to this day.
Additionally, Shanghai Pudong has 101 departures to the Beijing Capital and 127 flights to Beijing Daxing during the same period. Tally it all up and Beijing-Shanghai becomes the single-busiest city pairing on this list with over 800 flights each way, amounting to over 57 daily frequencies on average.
With Shanghai such a busy place during the travel rush, authorities have ordered all four of the city’s main railway stations to remain open 24/7, including Hongqiao Railway Station which is connected to the airport.
4 Hangzhou Xiaoshan (HGH) – Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN)
645 miles, 429 flights with 11 airlines
The fourth-busiest airport pairing is Hangzhou Xiaoshan (HGH) – Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) with 429 flights, or a peak 31 daily frequencies. Hangzhou is situated less than 200km from Shanghai and has a relatively busy airport which handled over 40 million passengers last year.
Photo: TK Kurikawa | Shutterstock
There will be 11 airlines operating flights between these two airports, including Air China, China Eastern, China Southern and Hainan Airlines, offering a total of 81,242 seats each way.
5 Harbin Taiping (HRB) – Shanghai Pudong (PVG)
1,027 miles, 425 flights, up to 31 daily roundtrips
A total of nine airlines fly between Harbin Taiping International and Shanghai Pudong offering over 80,000 seats each way this Lunar New Year travel season. Harbin is a gateway into Northeast China and its airport handles over 20 million passengers annually, primarily on domestic routes. The region is extremely popular during the winter season due to its snow and will also host the 2025 Asian Winter Games in early February.
Photo: Vitaliy Kyrychuk | Shutterstock
There is also limited service between Harbin and Shanghai’s other airport, Shanghai Hongqiao, with two daily flights operated by China Eastern. As the second-longest route on this list clocking in at over 1,000 miles, the flight time for this journey is around three hours.
6 Chongqing Jiangbei (CKG) – Shenzhen Bao’an (SZX)
660 miles, 412 flights with 12 carriers
No less than 12 airlines will be flying between Chongqing Jiangbei and Shenzhen Bao’an this month. Chongqing Jiangbei is one of the country’s busiest airports with over 44 million passengers handled last year.
Photo: Airbus
This route will see almost 84,000 seats each way and a peak 30 daily departures. Chongqing’s airport is situated close by to the city’s main train station which offers service to destinations as far as 300km away.
7 Beijing Capital (PEK) – Shenzhen Bao’an (SZX)
1,212 miles, 374 flights plus more from Beijing Daxing
As this list’s longest route, it also sees a higher seat density per departure as serving airlines deploy larger aircraft types. This means there are over 97,000 seats each way across 374 scheduled flights, or a peak 28 daily departures.
Photo: TonyV3112 | Shutterstock
Several carriers also fly to Shenzhen out of Beijing Daxing, with up to 20 daily departures from Beijing’s newer airport. This will see flights between Beijing and Shenzhen peak at 47 daily frequencies this travel season, making it one of the busiest city pairings in the country.
8 Shanghai Pudong (PVG) – Osaka Kansai (KIX)
815 miles, 366 flights on this international route
The sole international route to make this list, flights between Shanghai Pudong and Japan’s Osaka Kansai International will peak at 27 daily roundtrips. This will amount to 71,495 seats each way operated by nine carriers, including All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines.
Photo: JEERAPAN JANKAEW | Shutterstock
Notably, there is no direct service established between Shanghai Hongqiao and Osaka Kansai. The Japanese airport recently celebrated its 30th anniversary and ranks as the third-busiest airport in Japan, serving over 25 million passengers last year. Constructed in the sea and comprised of two passenger terminals, Osaka Kansai handles a range of domestic and international traffic, including long-haul services from as far as Paris, Vancouver and Sydney.
9 Chongqing Jiangbei (CKG) – Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN)
600 miles, 353 flights with 10 different airlines
The shortest route on this list at just 600 miles connects Southwestern and Southern China with an approximately two-hour journey between Chongqing and Guangzhou. Served by 10 airlines, there will be a total of 67,666 seats each way and a peak 26 daily departures.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
Prior to the COVID pandemic, Guangzhou Baiyun ranked as China’s third-busiest airport by passenger traffic with over 73 million annual travelers, while Chongqing was in 9th with 44 million. However, due to international flight shutdowns, these two airports jumped to the top two places in 2022.
10 Hangzhou Xiaoshan (HGH) – Shenzhen Bao’an (SZX)
665 miles, 339 flights with nine airlines
While its busiest route is to Guangzhou, Hangzhou’s second busiest is to nearby Shenzhen Bao’an, which will benefit from a peak of 25 daily roundtrips this Lunar New Year.
Photo: TK Kurikawa | Shutterstock
There will be nine airlines operating on this route, offering almost 60,000 seats each way. Traffic will be in high demand going both ways, although Shenzhen tends to be a bigger draw than Hangzhou owing to its proximity to Hong Kong.
Travel tips this holiday season
While China is well-prepared for the huge rush of travelers each Lunar New Year, it doesn’t mean you can expect everything to run seamlessly:

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