SHANGHAI’S Hongqiaoand Pudong airports received a record number of domestic flights and travelers during the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

Over 2 million domestic travelers departed or arrived at the airports between September 30 and October 7, a 17 percent increase on last year, the Shanghai Airport Authority said yesterday.

The number of domestic flights at the two airports increased by 22 percent year on year with nearly 14,000 takeoffs and landings.

“An increasing number of tourists are attracted to Shanghai with new attractions such as the extended Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall,” an official atHongqiaoairport said.

“Meanwhile, more local tourists are attracted to travel domestically by multiple‘fly-freely’ packages released by almost all local carriers ahead of the holiday,” he added.

While there was a sharp decrease in the number of international flights, Pudong saw a higher increase in domestic flights and travelers during the eight-day holiday.

The airport handled over 7,700 domestic flights, a 37 percent increase on last year. Over a million domestic passengers arrived or left the city through the airport, up by more than a third compared with 2019, the airport authority said.

The Pudong airport handled 138,500 passengers on the peak day of October 4 with a total of 956 takeoffs and landings.Hongqiaoairport received nearly 130,000 travelers on October 1, the National Day and the festival, with 785 flights.

Flights at both airports remained more punctual than those at most other domestic airports. The average on-time rate during the holiday was 96 percent atHongqiao and 94.3 percent at Pudong airport.

Since the novel coronavirus outbreak, which saw a sharp fall in the number of travelers, both airports along with the airlines optimized the domestic routes network to help get the business back on track, saidShiXinyan, an official with the airport authority.

During the holiday, more flights flew to northwest and southwest China as well asHainanIsland. Popular destinations includedYan’an in northwestShaanxiProvince, Enshiin centralHubei,Yulinin the south Guangxi ZhuangAutonomous Region andShiheziin the XinjiangUygur Autonomous Region.

Airlines also replaced narrow-body airliners with wide-body jets for popular domestic routes. Over 30 percent of the airliners operating domestic flights were double-aisle aircraft during the holiday, a 5 percent increase on last year.

“The number of flights and travelers suggest full recovery from the impact of COVID-19 since the third quarter,”Shisaid.

The Yangtze River Delta region recorded more than 24 million rail passenger trips during the holiday travel rush, China Railway Shanghai Group announced yesterday.

An estimated 2.5 million passengers were expected to board trains in the region yesterday, and an additional 215 trains will be operated to cope with demand.

Shanghai also saw more vehicles on expressways during the holiday, with a total of 10.45 million, 5 percent more than the same period of last year.