Garuda, Merpati add more flights for holidays

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)