With the approaching of peak summer travel period, Guilin Liangjiang International Airport has recently witnessed a dramatic increase of both departing and arriving passengers. For dates after mid-July, it has become more difficult to secure seats on flights servicing Guilin due to the growing demand.

It is known that since July 1, the airport has recorded a daily average of 120 flight movements with roughly 10,000 passengers or so, which translate to an approximate 25% year-on-year increase for both flight movements and passenger numbers.

Airport sources said that the increase in passenger traffic can be largely attributed to the school holidays and ever-rising number of tourists visiting Guilin. Most flights from Guilin to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Nanjing, Xi'an and Kunming have achieved a load factor of at least 90%.

In response to the increasing demand, a number of airlines have either resumed previous suspended services or launched new flights to service Guilin. For example, Shenzhen Airlines launched a daily non-stop service between Nanjing and Guilin on July 1 while China Southern Airlines is set to resume non-stop flights to Chengdu. Additionally, Hainan Airlines and Deer Air will have flights bound for Guilin from Shenzhen and Guangzhou respectively.

Photograph: Front entrance of Guilin Liangjiang International Airport's passenger terminal [October 2007]. Photo by CARNOC.com message board member.

All information is based on Chinese press report with translation by Swift Flight Translation Corporation.