During the summer travel period from July 1st to August 31st, the three main airports on Hainan Island — Haikou Meilan International Airport, Sanya Phoenix International Airport, and Qionghai Bo'ao International Airport — collectively recorded 57,000 aircraft takeoffs and landings, transporting a total of 8.7 million passengers. This marks a 3.8% year-on-year increase in passenger volume.
Haikou Airport saw 32,000 takeoffs and landings, moving more than 4.69 million passengers, up 2.3% from last year, while Sanya Airport handled 24,000 flights and 3.895 million passengers, reflecting a 5.4% rise. Bo'ao Airport completed 1,024 takeoffs and landings with 112,000 passengers, achieving a substantial 12.5% year-on-year growth.
Cross-border passenger traffic also gained momentum, with over 3,100 international flights and a cumulative 460,000 inbound and outbound passengers travelling through the airports. To handle peak demand, the airports teamed up with multiple carriers to add frequency on popular routes. Given the frequent hot weather, typhoons, and thunderstorms, proactive assessments of weather and airspace conditions were conducted, early warnings were issued dynamically, and flight operation contingency plans for the rainy season were enhanced. Despite an increase of 2.4% in flight volume, the on-time performance rate still improved by 2.2% year-on-year.
In terms of specific measures, Haikou Airport bolstered flights to cities like Wuhan, Chongqing, and Changsha, increased the Haikou-Jakarta route to six weekly services, and launched the first intercontinental route connecting the Hainan Free Trade Port to Spain via the Haikou-Chongqing-Madrid service. Meanwhile, Sanya Airport added more flights to major source markets such as Beijing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Urumqi, and Almaty, deployed additional wide-body aircraft, and optimised capacity allocation. Qionghai Bo'ao Airport coordinated the release of airspace resources to boost flight dispatch efficiency, ensuring a safe, efficient, and orderly summer season.
Turning to sea travel, the Qiongzhou Strait Ferry completed 12,666 ro-ro passenger voyages during the summer period, a 1% increase compared to the same period last year, carrying 3.1714 million crossing passengers, as reported by local maritime authorities.
On the railway front, Hainan's rail network transported a total of 5.659 million passengers during the summer rush, an increase of 65,000 passengers, or 1.2%, year-on-year. An average of 126.5 pairs of passenger trains operated daily, up 2.8% from last summer. Facing compounded challenges from extreme heat and heavy rainfall, railway authorities coordinated flood control, capacity deployment, and station services, dynamically adjusted train operation plans, and made every effort to ensure smooth travel for tourists, family visitors, and students.