China's airlines carried 3.71 million passengers during this year's week-long Spring Festival holiday, up 21 percent from 2006, according to a preliminary estimate by the General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC).

The number of airline flights reached 29,302 during the seven days from February 18 to February 24, up 14.2 percent over the corresponding period of last year.

On February 22, the fifth day of the lunar New Year, 500,000 people traveled by air. The figure soared to 620,000 on February 24, the last day of the statutory holiday.

The 40-day Spring Festival travel peak began on February 3, 15 days before the lunar New Year's Day, and will end on March 14.

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2007)