4.58m trips expected for four-day festival

Cheng Wong

More than 4.58 million passenger trips through Hong Kong's sea, land and air control points are expected for the Ching Ming holiday from today to Sunday, according to the Immigration Department.

Around 3.91 million of the travelers will go through land boundary control points, the department added, after consulting with the Shenzhen General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection and other mainland authorities.

To cope with the anticipated heavy traffic during the holiday, the department said it has minimized leave for frontline officers for flexible deployment and will provide extra clearance counters and kiosks.

The department said it will also coordinate with the Hong Kong Police Force, the Customs and Excise Department and the MTR Corp to set up a joint command center at the Lo Wu Control Point to make necessary arrangements.

Border checkpoints in Shenzhen are expected to see a traffic peak amid the Ching Ming Festival holiday between Friday and Sunday, with an estimated 2.53 million border crossings.

The Shenzhen People's Government Port Office estimated that the Luohu and Futian checkpoints will become popular crossing points, expecting an average daily passenger volume of about 240,000 and 210,000 during the three days.

The mainland authority also projected that from Friday to Sunday, approximately 932,000, 835,000, and 763,500 crossings, respectively, will be recorded at the Shenzhen-Hong Kong land-based borders.

To manage the anticipated peak flow of travelers, the Port Office announced that it has coordinated with inspection units to flexibly allocate personnel and open additional counters and passages.

Meanwhile, Shenzhen ports recorded more than 64 million crossings in the first quarter of this year, up by 15 percent in both passenger and vehicle flows year-on-year.