China's largest air carrier serves 2.1 mln passengers in Spring Festival holiday

China Southern Airlines (China Southern), the country's largest air carrier, has transported more than 2.1 million passengers during the week-long Spring Festival holiday from Feb. 4 to 10, said the airline Monday.

The airline has provided air services to a total of seven million passengers since the start of this year's Chinese Lunar New Year travel rush on Jan. 21, according to China Southern.

It represented an eight percent increase comparing with the figure over the same period in 2018. Meanwhile, the airline has also seen ten percent increases of passengers on its regional and international routes.

Guangzhou-based China Southern operates a fleet of about 840 airplanes, ranking the first in Asia and third worldwide. It is China's largest air carrier with the largest passenger volume and air route network.

Traveling by air has become a major trip mode of Chinese thanks to expanding route networks and continuous rising household income.

A total of 12.59 million air passenger trips were made during the week-long holiday, up 10.6 percent from last year's holiday, said statistics from Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

China is now the world's second-largest civil aviation market. It is expected to become the largest by mid-2020s, according to the latest forecasts by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).