Jakartans rush after holidays<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman and Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta\/Bogor<\/p>\n
Thousands of holidaymakers returned to Jakarta on Sunday after
\nspending their New Year's holidays in numerous tourist
\ndestinations in the country.<\/p>\n
Several airlines claimed that flights from the holiday
\ndestinations of Denpasar, Yogyakarta, Surakarta and Batam to
\nSoekarno-Hatta International Airport were fully booked, while
\nstate train company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI) had to add
\nmore cars to anticipate the increasing number of passengers
\nreturning to the capital.<\/p>\n
National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia said that almost all
\nflights to Jakarta were fully booked, with only few vacant seats
\navailable on some flights.<\/p>\n
"The load factor of flights from places like Denpasar and
\nBatam reached 100 percent. In fact, we had to turn away a number
\nof would-be passengers," an official with Garuda at Soekarno-
\nHatta Airport told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Domestic flag carrier Merpati Nusantara experienced the same
\ncondition.<\/p>\n
"The load factor of our 22 flights ranges between 80 percent
\nand 90 percent. Our Boeing 737 plying the Denpasar-Jakarta route,
\nwith a seat capacity of 158, carried 155 passengers on board,"
\nsaid Situmorang, a staffer with the airline's transfer desk for
\ndomestic flights.<\/p>\n
He said that on regular weekdays the number of passengers
\nreached around 120.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Lion Air public relations manager Hasyim A. Alhabsi
\nsaid there had been an increase of up to 50 percent in the number
\nof passengers returning to Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The airline industry predicted a windfall profit by year-end
\n2003 as a large number of people traveled across the country and
\noverseas to celebrate Idul Fitri, Christmas and the New Year
\nholidays.<\/p>\n
More cars were added to executive trains heading to Jakarta
\nfrom popular destinations Yogyakarta, Surakarta and Bandung.<\/p>\n
Fahruddin, a train dispatcher at Gambir Railway Station,
\npredicted that the number of holidaymakers returning by train
\nwould peak on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n
In the Puncak mountain resort, vehicles were moving at snail's
\npace as holidaymakers started to return home.<\/p>\n
At around 3 p.m., the flow of vehicles ran at between 40
\nkilometers per hour (kph) and 50 kph, a police officer said.<\/p>\n
"Around 30 vehicles pass along the Puncak road per minute,"
\nSecond Insp. Maria H. Hera said.<\/p>\n
She said that to ease congestion, which was expected to be
\nheavier in the evening, the road would be one-way for traffic
\nheading to Jakarta from 4:30 p.m. onwards. Vehicles from Jakarta,
\nheading to Puncak and Bandung, had to pass through Ciawi.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jakartans-rush-after-holidays-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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