Railway and airline services recovering rapidly
Passengers in the waiting hall at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station
Shanghai's railway and airline services are recovering quickly as the city has relaxed its COVID-19 control measures.
From December 8 to 12, more than 638,000 passengers left Shanghai by train. The city has seen more than 100,000 outbound passengers daily for five consecutive days, a 63.7 percent increase month on month, according to the China Railway Shanghai Group.
To meet the increasing travel needs of local residents, Shanghai has resumed 55 train services, including trains running to northwestern and central regions in China, Hangzhou in neighboring Zhejiang Province, and southwest China's Sichuan Province.
The group announced on December 8 that passengers do not need to show polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test reports and health codes when entering the railway stations and taking trains.
Passengers ready to board trains at the Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station.
Additionally, the domestic aviation sector has also seen increased travel.
On Monday, Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines recorded 1,421 international and domestic flights. Among which, there were 1,379 domestic flights, an increase of more than 150 percent, compared with 543 domestic flights on December 1.
In total, China Eastern carried 140,000 passengers on Monday, it reported.
It is the first time that the company has returned to full operation since this summer vacation.
Many cities, such as Shanghai, Kunming, Xi'an, Sanya and Beijing, are popular tourist destinations.
Since China lifted many of its COVID-19 control and prevention policies on December 7, searches for domestic air tickets through China Eastern increased instantaneously. Its domestic ticket sales also rose in the afternoon that day.
Ticket sales on Monday increased by 23.4 percent over the previous day and 100.7 percent from the beginning of the month. Among them, domestic ticket sales increased by 120.5 percent compared with the beginning of the month.
China Eastern Airlines staffers help passengers check in.
