Southeast Asia Information Port News (www.dnyxxg.com) – On January 23, at a press conference on the 2026 Spring Festival travel season comprehensive transportation service guarantee work in Hainan Province, it was learned that as the first Spring Festival travel season after the Hainan Free Trade Port was officially opened, this year's travel season continues the trend of concentrated passenger flow. Demand for tourism, trade, and family visits in Hainan continues to be released, and it is estimated that the province's comprehensive transportation will transport 22.368 million passengers during the Spring Festival travel season, an increase of more than 5.3% year-on-year.
Among them, the demand for passenger and vehicle ferry services across the Qiongzhou Strait is particularly strong, with an estimated 4.66 million passengers and more than 1.17 million vehicles transported, representing year-on-year increases of 12% and 10% respectively. Civil aviation passenger throughput is expected to reach 8.175 million, an increase of 3.7% year-on-year, setting a new record for the same period. It is worth noting that the demand for new energy vehicles crossing the strait has surged, with the transport volume expected to exceed 200,000 vehicles, accounting for more than 17%, becoming a new growth point for this year's Spring Festival travel season.
Due to the "late Spring Festival" factor, this year's Spring Festival travel rush in Hainan is characterized by a "longer pre-holiday and overlapping post-holiday" peak, with a longer peak duration and more concentrated passenger flow. Hainan has optimized its transportation capacity allocation to enhance its support capabilities.
First, it has increased capacity on key routes. The Qiongzhou Strait has deployed 57 passenger roll-on/roll-off ships and 4 dedicated cargo ships for new energy vehicles, setting up 5 basic schedule plans, with a planned 10,800 voyages, a 10% increase compared to 2025, and a maximum daily departure capacity of 350 voyages. The railway ferry can operate up to 32 voyages daily to ensure the demand for vehicle crossings is met.
Second, it has strengthened new energy vehicle transportation support. Two new energy vehicle-dedicated vessels, "Luyuan No. 6" and "Luyuan No. 9," have been added. This year, 50 dedicated new energy vehicle transport services can be set up daily during the Spring Festival travel rush, with the number of services increased promptly based on ticket pre-sales. The daily transport capacity for new energy vehicles will increase from an average of 3,500 vehicles last year to 5,000 vehicles.
Third, it has strengthened civil aviation capacity support. Flights to popular cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou have been increased, bringing the island's maximum daily flight capacity to 1,370 flights. Seamless connections between air, rail, and road transport are being facilitated to streamline passenger transfers.
Tickets for the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush went on pre-sale on January 19, 2026. The Qiongzhou Strait passenger and vehicle ferry continues its fully pre-booked vehicle crossing model, with tickets available online through platforms such as "Qiongzhou Strait Ferry Butler." The pre-sale period for inbound ferry tickets has been extended to 15 days, and for outbound tickets to 30 days, supporting round-trip ticket purchases. Civil aviation has introduced student ticket discounts and optimized online ticketing, refund, and change services.
Meanwhile, with the closure of the border, truck routes have been adjusted, requiring trucks to enter the port area via the "second-line port" inspection area, placing higher demands on traffic efficiency and inspection coordination. Traffic organization has been optimized, and zoned waiting areas have been implemented. By adopting a "passenger-freight separation" approach to port entry, the flow of passengers and freight vehicles leaving the island is prevented from intersecting. Routes for passenger cars and freight vehicles leaving the island are scientifically designed, with Haise Road designated as the passenger car entry channel to the new port, the "second-line port" freight inspection area as the freight entry channel to both the new and South ports, and Binhai Avenue as the urban traffic route. This achieves separate management of urban traffic and vehicles leaving the island, ensuring smooth traffic flow on municipal roads surrounding the port area. At that time, all drivers and passengers crossing the sea are requested to follow the instructions of traffic police and staff on site and maintain orderly traffic flow.
