Tickets home for the holidays selling fast
Tickets home for the holidays selling fast
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
This year's Islamic Idul Fitri holidays are around one month
away, but airplane tickets to popular destinations across the
archipelago are already hard to find.
Flights plying the Jakarta-Surabaya-Bali routes have been
fully booked by holiday-makers planning to celebrate the post-
Ramadhan fasting month festivities in their hometowns on Java and
Bali islands.
This year's Idul Fitri holiday falls on Nov. 25-26. Like in
the past, the annual exodus of millions of Muslims will likely
hit Java and other islands across Indonesia several days ahead,
during and after the festivities.
"Tickets for Surabaya-Bali flights 10 days before Idul Fitri
have already been booked out," a Star Air reservation officer
said on Monday in Surabaya, East Java.
She said consumers have booked tickets from Surabaya to
Jakarta since early September and added that these tickets are
expected to be sold out in the near future.
Similarly, Lion Air ticketing officer Nurdin said tickets for
the Jakarta-Surabaya route -- for departures on Nov. 22 until
Nov. 30 -- have been fully booked.
He said that Lion runs eight flights between Surabaya and
Jakarta every day and has anticipated an increase of passengers
during the national Idul Fitri holidays by increasing the number
of its flights.
However, many people have registered with Lion Air as wait-
listed passengers, as requests have increased for its tickets
from Jakarta to Surabaya, Nurdin added.
Private airline officers said, that compared to 2002, tickets
for the upcoming holiday flights had taken less time to be booked
out.
The lower prices of flight tickets are believed to be the main
reason for people traveling by plane during the holiday season,
instead of by train.
Plane tickets from Jakarta to Surabaya are sold for between Rp
225,000 and Rp 435,000 each, while the same route by train can
cost more than 200,000 per person.
Other private airlines, including Batavia Air and Bouraq
Airlines, also reported that their flights to Surabaya or Bali
from Jakarta have been fully booked.
"Although we have yet to set the fixed prices for November
tickets, consumers have already booked departures on Nov. 23-23
and Nov. 29-30," Indah of Bouraq Airlines was quoted by Antara as
saying.
She said Bouraq tickets for the Jakarta-Surabaya route are
normally sold for between Rp 225,000 and Rp 248,000 each.
"Usually, if there is an increase in ticket prices, passengers
can pay the difference while checking in at the airport," Indah
said.
The price of tickets during national holidays, like Idul
Fitri, Christmas and New Year, has increased in the past by up to
30 percent of the normal fare.