Chinese airlines carried up to 9.84 million passengers during the week-long Chinese Lunar New Year holiday from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, according to preliminary statistics released by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

More than 80,000 flights were operated during the week-long Spring Festival holiday, an increase of 11.9 percent over the same period last year. Airlines have deployed sufficient capacity for the holiday travel rush, offering 12.83 million seats totally.

Meanwhile, air passengers increased 15.1 percent year on year from 8.55 million to 9.84 million.

The on-time performance of domestic flights averaged at 85.6 percent, up 3.1 percent points over 2016 Chinese New Year.

Data shows that large departing passengers' flow was handled at airports in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Kunming, Chengdu, Chongqing and etc. The passenger load factor on departure flights at Urumqi, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Xi'an, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Lijiang, Ningbo and Shantou averaged at 85 percent during the week-long holiday.