Many fly from Medan for New Year

MEDAN, North Sumatra: Thousands of local residents will fly out of North Sumatra province to enjoy New Year parties overseas next week despite the protracted economic crisis, airport officials here said on Thursday.

They said dozens of flights traveling abroad from the provincial capital of Medan had been booked out ahead of New Years Day, which falls next Wednesday.

More than 16 flights are scheduled, with a total of around 3,000 people on board, every day from Polonia Airport in Medan to Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Thailand, ahead of the New Year celebrations.

On Thursday, the airport saw a sharp increase in passengers traveling on international flights. Others, particularly those bound for Jakarta and Batam in Riau province, were also seen at the domestic departure terminal.

Mulyono, the operational director of airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II, said the increase in passengers by the end of this year at Polonia would emulate the success it registered in 1996, when the number of travelers by plane at Medan reached 2,006,333 people. --JP