Garuda, Merpati add more flights for holidays

JAKARTA (JP): In anticipation of the expected surge in passenger numbers over the upcoming holiday, Garuda Indonesia and Merpati Nusantara Airlines are both adding more flights to their schedules.

Merpati said on Monday that it was adding 11 extra services, comprising 129 flights and 8,960 seats, between Dec. 20 and Jan. 10.

They include round-trip services from Jakarta to Pontianak, Pangkalpinang, Tanjungpandan, Kuala Lumpur, Denpasar, and Makassar, and the services between Bandung and Denpasar and between Makassar and Surabaya, the airline said in a statement.

The extra flights were scheduled based on increased demand, it added.

Garuda, meanwhile, has been operating extra flights on three routes -- Jakarta-Pontianak, Jakarta-Semarang, and Yogyakarta- Denpasar -- since Dec. 1.

The Jakarta-Pontianak service has also been upgraded by using the larger Boeing 737-500's compared to Foker F-28's, Garuda spokesman Pujobroto said as quoted by Kompas.

Starting on Wednesday, Garuda would add a third flight on the Jakarta-Solo daily service, he said.

As of Jan. 1, Garuda would increase the frequency of its flights to Palembang from four to five flights per day and to Singapore from four to six per day, he said.

This year, the Christmas holiday will be followed by the Muslim Idul Fitri holiday on Dec. 27.

Garuda has said that most of its flights prior to and during the holiday period were already fully booked. (03)