The Immigration Department estimates that 13.07 million passengers will pass through land, sea and air control points during the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

Around 11.06 million of these passengers are expected to pass through land boundary control points (BCPs).

The busiest day for outbound traffic is expected to be December 25, when about 595,000 passengers will leave Hong Kong, while inbound traffic is predicted to peak on December 29, when 626,000 passengers are anticipated to arrive in the city.

Passenger traffic at the Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau Spur Line and Shenzhen Bay control points will also be heavy, with daily averages of 235,000, 203,000 and 131,000 forecast.

In view of the New Year’s Eve countdown fireworks display, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has discussed extending service hours at boundary control points on New Year’s Eve with the Shenzhen Municipal Government.

The proposal includes extending the passenger clearance service at Shenzhen Bay Control Point overnight, from the usual midnight closure time, and that at Lo Wu Control Point to 2am. Further details will be announced as soon as possible.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang ports will operate round the clock as usual on New Year’s Eve.

To cope with the anticipated heavy traffic, the department has minimised leave for frontline officers to allow flexible deployment and operation of extra clearance counters and kiosks. Additional security guards will also be deployed to provide crowd management support.

Furthermore, the department will set up a joint command centre at Lo Wu Control Point together with Police, Customs and the Mass Transit Railway Corporation, and will also establish close communication with Mainland frontier inspection authorities to ensure smooth passenger traffic flows.

Travellers are advised to plan their trips in advance and avoid making journeys during busy times.

They may check expected busy times at BCPs on the department’s website and monitor estimated waiting times at all land BCPs via its mobile app.