On February 1, the first day of 2018 spring festival travel rush, Ma Kai, Vice Premier of the State Council, visited Wuhan Tianhe International Airport and inspected the support work for air transport during the spring festival. Minister of Transport Li Xiaopeng and CAAC's Deputy Administrator Dong Zhiyi accompanied the Vice Premier for the inspection.

Ma Kai inspected explosive check points, security division, security screening area, information desk, and check-in counters at the airport's No. 3 Terminal Building, and then ascended the control tower. He inquired about civil aviation operational safety and support for the spring festival travel rush, extended his greetings to the front-line staff and passengers at the airport as well.

Ma Kai stated that the support work for air transport during spring festival travel rush is quite heavy and challenging due to the large quantity of passengers and adverse weather conditions in many areas such as significant temperature drop, snow, freezing and dense fog. He stressed that the entire civil aviation industry shall earnestly implement President Xi Jinping's instructions on civil aviation safety, pay much attention to and carry out practical safety measures; make an overall plan on transport arrangements and capacity allocation, and fully strengthen the support for air transport; make every effort to improve transport service, and offer more convenient and comfortable service for the satisfaction and security of passengers.

Ma Kai said that front-line civil aviation staff have made a huge contribution to supporting air transport by working overtime under a heavy load and guaranteeing safe and smooth journeys for numerous passengers; and relevant departments shall create good conditions for life and work of their staff.

It is estimated that during the spring festival this year, around 65 million passengers will be transported by air, increasing by 10% than that of last year. To satisfy passengers' demands, CAAC, besides the over 14,000 scheduled flights each day, has approved many airlines to add a total of 30,000 extra flights and charter flights during the spring festival including 26,394 domestic extra flights, and 2,716 international extra and charter flights. It is expected that during the spring festival, more than 2.1 million seats on airplanes will be offered each day to satisfy the needs of passengers. On February 1, the first day of spring festival travel rush, civil aviation operation kept steady with 15,264 flights operated nationwide with an annual average of 8%.