Air transport has already entered the Lunar New Year peak season, with passengers expected to reach around 8.7 million in about two weeks since Monday, an annual increase of 4 percent.

More than 5,160 flights will be added to the operating programs of ten Chinese airline companies, including Air China, China Eastern, China Southern and Xiamen Airlines.

Major passenger destinations include Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Wenzhou, Ximen, Beijing, Harbin and Xi'an.

Foreign airline companies also took part in the busy Spring Festival season, with an increasing number of Chinese spending the holiday abroad.

Turkey has become a popular destination for Chinese tourists as well as a transit point for European destinations, said Zhang Yuhong, marketing manager of Turkish Airlines in Beijing.

Tickets to southeast Asian countries are very popular among Chinese, especially northerners.

Northern European countries are increasingly attractive to Chinese. The Scandinavian Airlines System lowered ticket prices by 1,500 yuan (US$187), and flights are 95 percent booked, according to airlines sources.

As a large number of Chinese are returning from the United States for the Spring Festival, 80 percent of Northwest Airlines flights to Beijing have been booked, said a company official.

(Xinhua News Agency January 30, 2003)