Freight and passenger traffic surged at Guangzhou Airport in 2024

The cross-border transportation business volume at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in the Guangdong provincial capital continues to demonstrate a strong trend of passenger and freight in 2024, further consolidating its position as an aviation hub in the southern Chinese region.

According to a statement released by Guangzhou Customs on Tuesday, the airport saw approximately 15.7 million inbound and outbound passenger visits last year, a year-on-year increase of 78 percent.

The airport witnessed more than 110,000 inbound and outbound flights in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 51 percent, said the statement.

Meanwhile, the airport's import and export freight volume came to more than 1.4 million metric tons, a year-on-year increase of 20 percent, it said.

Jiang Xinchen, a customs officer at the airport, said the daily average number of inbound and outbound passengers at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport hit 41,000 in 2024, with a maximum daily international passenger flow of more than 50,000 and a maximum daily inbound and outbound flights of 350, ranking among the top airports in China.

The growth is a result of the airport's expansion of air routes. One such route saw the first V0770 flight from Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, landing at the airport at around 6:00 am on Dec 22.

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport now has more than 230 domestic and international flight routes, with about 2,100 inbound and outbound passenger flights in and out of the mainland per week.

To ensure efficient and convenient customs clearance for inbound and outbound passengers, Guangzhou Customs developed an innovative customs system last year to provide better services to passengers, said Jiang.

"With continuous deepening reform and innovation, optimization of business processes and taking advantage of airport laboratories, we shortened the testing period for salmon and other aquatic products to no more than 3 days in 2024," said Feng Li, another customs officer at the airport.