Beijing airport handles record number of holiday travelers

The Beijing Capital International Airport has seen a record number of passengers during the week-long National Day holiday, an airport official said Thursday. The airport handled 1.35 million passengers between Sept. 30 and Oct. 5, the official said. The travel peak fell on Oct. 1, or the start of the holiday, when the airport handled 258,000 travelers. During the period, the airport handled 8,739 flights, an average of 1,456.5 flights daily and an increase of 3.92 percent compared with the same period last year, the official said. The official said that the airport will experience another wave of heavy traffic on Oct. 6 and 7. It will handle about 250,000 passengers on Oct. 7, the last day of the holiday, the official predicted. The airport is expected to handle a record 2.35 million passengers during the seven-day holiday, according to an official estimate issued on Sept. 29.