Tickets to Java all sold out

BALIKPAPAN, East Kalimantan (JP): Thousands of migrants from Java living here may have to postpone their plans to go home for the coming holidays as tickets for pre-Christmas departures to Jakarta and Surabaya through Sepinggan Airport and Semayang Port here were all sold out, Antara reported on Sunday.

A staffer with travel bureau PT Bumi Sedayu Balikpapan, Isnaini, said plane and boat tickets from the two major departure points to Java were already sold out.

"Many people ordered tickets a month in advance," he said.

Separately, Darwin, head of operations at the local office of PT Pelni, the state-owned shipping line, said that the company would not allow its ships to be overloaded so as to ensure safety.

"We can't up the passenger numbers like last year," he said.

But Antara also quoted an unnamed port official who suggested that tickets were probably sold out because they had been bought up by scalpers.

One passenger recounted that an economy class ferry ticket to Surabaya had soared to Rp 230,000 (US$24.2) from the usual Rp 171,000.(hdn)