Pelni to provide 751,550 tickets and 55 ships for Eid al-Fitr 2026, records peak homecoming traffic

Jakarta – Tri Andayani, the President Director of PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (Persero) or Pelni, said the company will provide 751,550 tickets for the Eid al-Fitr 2026 homecoming season, which will open on 6 March 2026 (H-15) and run until 6 April 2026 (H+15). He confirmed that the total fleet to be operated by Pelni during Eid 2026 will reach 55 ships, with total seating capacity of up to 56,069 seats per sailing. ‘In Eid this year we are providing 751,550 tickets, with 55 passenger ships and seating available per sailing of 56,069 seats,’ Tri said at a press conference in the Harmoni area, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday, 4 March 2026. He detailed that the 55 ships comprise 25 passenger ships with a total capacity of 44,180 seats, and 30 pioneer ships with a total capacity of 11,889 seats. Tri affirmed that the total seating capacity will be able to accommodate the surge in demand during Eid 2026. Based on our projections, the Pelni boss estimated that the peak homecoming surge will occur on H-3 or 18 March 2026. Meanwhile the peak return by sea is projected to occur on H+11 or 2 April 2026. ‘So for the number of passengers in Eid transport 2026, it is slightly lower than last year, where projections reach 641,025 passengers,’ said Tri. In addition, Tri said the busiest departure points are projected to be Makassar port, with an estimated 49,232 passengers. This is followed by Balikpapan with 38,878 passengers, Batam Island 32,836, Ambon 32,603, and Bau-Bau with 32,099 passengers. For arrival ports, the busiest is projected to be Kumai, with 58,850 passengers; Makassar 49,490; Surabaya 34,366; Balikpapan 29,167; and Ambon 28,247. ‘We also project five routes to be the busiest, such as Batam-Belawan, Belawan-Batam, Balikpapan-Surabaya, Kumai-Semarang, and Makassar-Surabaya, with projected loads reaching 45 percent of the total Eid transport we project,’ he said.