More than 6.6 million people will travel in and out of Hong Kong during the coming Labor Day Golden Week festive period, up 8.3 percent over last year's holiday period, the Immigration Department of Hong Kong said here Tuesday.

According to the Immigration Department, the peak period of travelers will fall between April 27 and May 7 when about 2.96 million passengers will pass through Lo Wu control point, accounting for 60 percent of the total estimated cross-boundary passenger traffic.

The number of departing passengers at Lo Wu control point is expected to reach a peak of 180,000 on April 30, while the peak for arrivals will be on May 1, with 180,000 people returning to Hong Kong.

The highest daily traffic is expected to reach 310,000 on April30.

Passenger traffic at Lok Ma Chau control point will also be heavy with a forecast of about 1.65 million passengers, a daily average of 150,000 and an increase of 11.7 percent over the same period last year.

To cope with the anticipated traffic, the Immigration Department has suspended leave applications from staff working at control points and has arranged for extra officers to be posted at the airport, sea and land boundary checkpoints during the holiday period through internal deployment. Additional security guards will be deployed at Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau control points to provide crowd-management support.

The department and the abutting Shenzhen city authorities will also strengthen their cooperation and liaison to ensure smooth and orderly passenger traffic across the boundary. If necessary, Lo Wu control point will implement the contra-flow scheme to relieve congestion.

A joint command center will be set up at Lo Wu control point to oversee traffic conditions. Contingency measures have also been drawn up to handle any untoward incidents.

Editor: Donald