Flight bookings on the rise ahead of holidays

Flight bookings on the rise ahead of holidays

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

With just two weeks to go until the Idul Fitri holiday, city
travel agencies say they have been booking more seats on domestic
flights for customers since the start of the fasting month.

"Many customers booked tickets early in Ramadhan for fear
that, if they waited, they wouldn't make it home for Idul Fitri,"
Andri, a staff member of a travel agency on Jl. Bintaro Utama
told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Agusta, a supervisor of a new airline's branch office on Jl.
Bintaro Utama also said bookings had increased since the first
day of Ramadhan.

"We have seen a rapid increase in bookings, but have not yet
calculated total sales," he said, adding that the airline's
ticket sales only rose by 15 percent during the fasting month
last year.

Both believed ticket sales would double this year because more
people are opting to fly rather than take a train or bus back to
their hometowns.

Several customers who came to book flights home were seen
patiently waiting for service.

"If I don't book return tickets for my family now, I am afraid
that all flights will be fully booked and it will be too late to
make other arrangements," said Siti Fajriah, 39, who was booking
five tickets to Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

Siti is among some 1.8 million people estimated by the
Ministry of Transportation to be planning to travel home by plane
before or during the Idul Fitri holiday. This is a 35 percent
increase from last year.

"That's the highest increase as compared to the rise for other
transportation means," Minister of Transportation Hatta Radjasa
said during a meeting on Wednesday.

Overall, he continued, the number of people traveling back
home this year would increase by 6.69 percent at 16.9 million.