Spring Festival travel rush 2026: Nearly 100,000 passengers cross the Qiongzhou Strait on the first day, a 50.7% increase year-on-year

This year’s Spring Festival travel rush is the first since the operation of the Hainan Free Trade Port’s closed-loop management. The passenger and freight ferry services across the Qiongzhou Strait are showing a prosperous trend for both passengers and goods. On the first day of the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush (February 2), the Qiongzhou Strait ferries transported 99,792 passengers, an increase of 50.7% compared to the first day of the 2025 Spring Festival travel rush. The Hainan maritime authorities ensured safety for port entry and exit passenger and freight ships (including new energy vehicle transport flat barges) with 336 trips, a 14.7% increase year-on-year; transportation of vehicles reached 26,286 trips, a 35.7% increase year-on-year. Among these, the dedicated team for transporting new energy vehicles in port entry and exit (including the new energy vehicle transport team for passenger ferries and the new energy vehicle transport flat barges) completed 31 trips, a 121.4% increase year-on-year; the transport of new energy vehicles totaled 4,373 vehicles, a 297.9% increase year-on-year. (CCTV News)