Airlines having a very festive Christmas season

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The airline industry is set to rake in a windfall profit as a large number of people are expected to travel across the country or overseas to celebrate Christmas and the New Year.

Several airlines claimed to have been fully booked, while others said there were only few seats left several days ahead of the festivities.

"On normal days, our load factors for all routes are between 70 percent and 75 percent. Now, load factors on most routes reach over 95 percent," national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia's head of corporate communications Pudjobroto told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

He mentioned the routes of Jakarta-Medan, Jakarta-Yogyakarta, Jakarta-Hong Kong had reached a load factor of over 95 percent for flights from Dec. 23 to Dec. 25.

"While for Jakarta-Denpasar, Jakarta-Bangkok, Jakarta- Singapore, the load factor is between 97 percent and 99 percent from Dec. 23 to Dec. 31," said Pudjobroto.

Garuda raised ticket prices by between 30 and 50 percent during the yearend peak season.

To anticipate the influx of passengers during the peak season, Garuda has added a total of 35,000 extra seats for the Dec. 20 to Jan. 4 period.

Separately, public relations manager of the low-frills airline Lion Air, Hasyim A. Alhabsi, told the Post their flights from Jakarta to Medan, Batam, Manado, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore had were almost fully booked.

"We have prepared a lot better than the Idul Fitri holiday. During these Christmas and New Year festivities, we still have space for some routes. During Idul Fitri, almost all flights were full," he said.

Hasyim noted that despite the fact that the flights to the above destinations had been fully booked, some seats could be available as some passengers might cancel their reservations in the last minute.

According to Hasyim, normally, during peak season, people booked seats at several airlines to get the cheapest or most comfortable seats. In the end, they have to choose one and should cancel other reservations.

Newly launched airline Adam Air also has taken advantage of increased travel during the holiday season.

"Our flights on Jakarta-Medan and Jakarta-Denpasar routes have been fully booked with a waiting list until Dec. 31," marketing manager Syafrinal told the Post.

The airline, which launched its maiden flight on Dec. 19, operates several routes, such as Jakarta-Medan, Jakarta- Balikpapan, Jakarta-Denpasar and Jakarta-Yogyakarta.

"Our Jakarta-Yogyakarta route is almost always full with a load factor of about 80 percent each day," said Syafrinal.

Tina Prijatna of travel agent Naderi Travel in Central Jakarta told the Post the bookings for Christmas and the New Year had started about four months ago.

"Most travelers are families. In Indonesia, they are mostly heading for Medan, Manado, Yogyakarta and Denpasar, while the top overseas destinations are Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok," she said.