BEIJING, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- A total of 593 additional flights will operate across the Taiwan Strait for the Spring Festival travel peak, a mainland official said on Wednesday.

Approved by the mainland authorities, mainland airlines will open 493 flights and Taiwan carriers will operate 100 flights, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a press conference.

The mainland announced in December that additional flights will operate between Feb. 5 and March 5 to deal with increased passenger flow for the Spring Festival that falls on Feb. 19, a major holiday for the Chinese globally.

The number of cross-Strait flights has increased to 840 from 270 per week since the route opened in September 2009. Destinations in the mainland have increased to 55 cities, including many second- and third-tier cities. Enditem