About 9.31 million people will travel in and out of Hong Kong during the Lunar New Year holiday, up 8.7% on last year, the Immigration Department says.

About 6.56 million people will pass through the land boundary control points, up 7%.

Most people will travel between February 14 and February 27 when about 4 million passengers, an average of 285,000 daily, will pass through Lo Wu control point. It represents 61% of the total estimated cross-boundary passenger traffic and an increase of 3.4% over last year.

The number of departing passengers at Lo Wu control point is expected to peak at 200,000 on February 16, while the peak arrivals will be February 20, with 200,000 people returning. The highest daily traffic is expected to reach 340,000 on February 20.

Lok Ma Chau traffic

Passenger traffic at Lok Ma Chau control point will also be heavy with a forecast of about 2.14 million passengers, a daily average of 153,000, up13.2%.

The departure peak is expected to be February 16, with about 84,000 people departing for the Mainland. The number of arriving passengers is expected to reach a peak of 105,000 on February 20.

To cope with the anticipated traffic, the Immigration Department has suspended leave applications from staff working at control points and a Joint Command Centre will be set up at Lo Wu control point.