Passenger flow at the Beijing Capital International Airport is expected to hit 160,000 on Feb. 17, the eve of China's Lunar New Year, airport sources said.

The figure is a daily record for the airport since the Spring Festival travel season began on February 3.

Airport sources said that they are fully prepared to handle the peak passenger flow.

Business stands have been removed from the airport lounge to make room for passengers waiting for their flights and more parking lots have been arranged for large airplanes such as Boeing 747s, said the sources.

To ensure safety of air passengers and normal operation of the airport, authorities have imposed a ban on firecrackers in areas surrounding the airport.

The number of highway and railway passengers is expected to be 49.53 million on Feb. 17, a drop of 12.91 million from Feb. 16. But the figure is 14.2 percent higher than that for the same day of last year, according to the Ministry of Communications.

A total of 690,000 passengers are expected to go home by ship on Feb. 17, up 4.5 percent.

A total of 2.17 billion passengers will travel during the Spring Festival season in 2007, up 4.9 percent on last year's holiday season.

The National Development and Reform Commission said a record 155 million passengers will travel by train, up 4.3 percent, during the 40-day travel peak that will begin on February 3 and end on March 14.