Tenau Port in Kupang Overwhelmed by Homebound Passengers, Long Queues for Check-in
The flow of homebound passengers at Tenau Port in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, reached overwhelming levels on Friday, 13 March 2026. One passenger, Sunariah (55), revealed that she and her family had to wait patiently to check in for their vessel. She expressed hope that Tenau Port’s service systems would improve in the future.
“Hopefully the service system will be better going forward. It shouldn’t be like this again because other places are not like here – check-in is smoother,” said the woman, who was travelling with her family to Lombok, East Nusa Tenggara.
According to Sunariah, the check-in queue resembled conditions from 2025, requiring an extremely long wait. She had already waited two hours without receiving service.
“We will return to Kupang in about 3–4 weeks as we are still celebrating Eid with family,” concluded the resident of Jalan Sedelta, Alak District, Kupang City.
PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (Pelni), Kupang Branch Class II, confirmed that the number of homebound passengers during Eid 2026 is estimated to increase by 2–5 per cent in East Nusa Tenggara. However, Pelni is still awaiting final figures.
“We project passenger numbers this year will experience an increase of approximately 2–5 per cent,” said General Manager of PT Pelni Kupang Branch Class II, Teguh Hari Setiadi, during an interview at Tenau Port in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, on Friday.
Teguh explained that this increase represents approximately 1–2.5 million passengers. In its operations, Pelni prioritises safety first, zero accidents, and service excellence whilst adhering to standard operational procedures.
According to Teguh, Pelni strives to provide the highest service standards to guarantee customer satisfaction for transport and logistics users, prioritising passenger and crew safety as the highest priority in all operations.
“We are committed to achieving safe operations without accidents, supported by routine ship maintenance and crew readiness inspections,” explained Teguh.
Additionally, Pelni regularly intensifies evaluations across various service sectors, ranging from ticketing counters, terminal operations, ticket inspections, and facilities.
Regarding the peak of the homebound exodus, Teguh stated that it began to manifest on Tuesday, 10 March 2026. On that date, the KM Tidar carried 2,100 passengers. With the increase in passenger numbers, Pelni collaborates with various stakeholders to ensure passenger services run smoothly, safely, comfortably, and orderly.
“The main destinations for the KM Tidar are Lembata Regency, Nunukan, Makassar, and Balikpapan,” explained Teguh.