The travel rush has begun for the Spring Festival and air traffic across the Taiwan Strait is also seeing a surge. More than 45-thousand passengers are expected to make the trip over the holiday. Air carriers on both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have increased the number of flights to meet the increasing demand.
In Shanghai, six airlines from the mainland and Taiwan have added 34 flights for February, pushing the total number to 146. Nearly 80 percent of the seats have already been booked. Direct regular flights have become the top choice for the island's residents traveling across the strait. More than 70 percent have also chosen to take the flights to return home. Regular flights began operating at the end of 2008. So far, there are 31 cities on the mainland which have direct flights to Taiwan.
