Every year, from mid-January to late February, Asia’s Spring Festival travel rush – known as Chunyun – transforms the skies and railways into the busiest corridors on earth. An estimated 90.2 million air passengers travelled over the 2025 Chunyun period, including 18.24 million in the official holiday week alone.
For airlines, managing this enormous but predictable surge requires strategic capacity planning, and aircraft leasing has become the go-to solution for meeting peak demand without long-term fleet commitments.
Seasonal surge during Chunyun
Chunyun spans roughly forty days, but the heaviest pressure on airlines comes during two intense peaks: the days immediately before the New Year’s Eve celebrations and the return leg in the days after the festival.
During these windows, airports are strained not just by sheer passenger numbers, but by extreme fluctuations in booking patterns. Legacy fleets, sized to average annual demand, cannot respond quickly enough to these swings.
Adding capacity via leased aircraft allows carriers to absorb the spike in demand, then return to standard fleet levels once the holiday rush subsides. Beyond restoring operational balance, this approach avoids under-utilisation of expensive assets during quieter months.
Specialised aircraft requirements
Chunyun’s travel matrix is far from uniform. Airlines must accommodate:
- long-haul international services catering to migrant workers and overseas students returning for the festival;
- medium-haul routes connecting Asia’s second- and third-tier cities where direct rail options may be limited; and
- high-frequency shuttle runs between regional hubs during peak days.
To maximise revenue and passenger comfort, carriers often specify high-density seating on narrow-body jets for short-haul legs, while deploying wide-body aircraft with flexible cabin layouts on longer flights. Leasing enables rapid access to the exact aircraft type and interior configuration required for each route cluster, eliminating lead times associated with reconfiguring owned jets.
Flexibility of aircraft leasing
Aircraft leasing offers a spectrum of solutions tailored to fluctuating traffic loads. The most commonly adopted structure is:
- short/medium-term wet leases (ACMI), which supply aircraft together with crew, maintenance and insurance – ideal for airlines that need a turnkey solution during a compact surge period; and
This leasing option can be contracted for as little as a few days/weeks, allowing airlines to scale up operations precisely in line with Chunyun’s calendar and then release the assets without penalty.
A cost-effective strategy
Restricted budgets and the rising cost of new aircraft acquisitions have led many carriers to re-evaluate capital expenditure. Purchasing aircraft to cover a mere fraction of the year results in heavy depreciation charges throughout the aircraft’s economic life. ACMI Leasing, by contrast, converts large upfront costs into predictable, short-term operating expenses.
This shift from CapEx to OpEx shields airlines from balance-sheet strain during off-peak months and enables them to maintain competitive fares even as fuel prices and maintenance costs climb.
Enhancing operational efficiency
Introducing wet leased aircraft into the fleet mix enhances route flexibility and schedule reliability. Airlines can launch additional scheduled and charter services to underserved city pairs, thereby relieving bottlenecks at major hubs.
Moreover, with advance notice of leased asset availability, carriers can co-ordinate crew rostering and maintenance slots more effectively, reducing turnaround times and minimising the risk of delays or cancellations at the height of Chunyun’s surge.
ACS Leasing: your partner for Chunyun
ACS Leasing specialises in delivering agile aircraft solutions for high-demand events such as the Spring Festival. Carriers working with ACS benefit from:
- a comprehensive fleet roster ranging from regional turboprops to high-density wide-body jets;
- custom lease structures, from fully crewed wet leases to short term dry leases tailored to existing operational resources; and
- rapid mobilisation processes that secure additional capacity weeks ahead of anticipated booking spikes.
This expertise ensures that airlines are fully prepared to absorb Chunyun’s passenger volumes with minimal disruption.
As Chunyun traffic continues to grow, the ability to scale capacity swiftly and cost-effectively will remain a critical differentiator. ACMI leasing – particularly through experienced partners such as ACS Leasing – offers the operational agility and financial flexibility that airlines need to ensure every traveller reaches home in time to celebrate the Spring Festival with family.
To learn more about our aircraft leasing solutions, and to keep your passengers moving, no matter what the springtime seasonal hike throws your way, contact one of our experts today .
