Workers return home

Workers return home

SURABAYA: Indonesian workers in Malaysia have begun returning
home for the Idul Fitri holidays, as is evident from, among other
things, the fully-booked flights from Kuala Lumpur to Surabaya,
the capital of East Java.

District sales supervisor for Malaysian Airline System (MAS),
Lilianawati Dinata, said here Thursday that since Jan. 14, there
have been no vacant seats on MAS flights from Kuala Lumpur to
Surabaya.

The route is served by two airlines, MAS and Garuda Indonesia,
Antara reported.

Dinata said that for the route, MAS operates a Boeing-737,
which can accommodate 134 passengers. "Usually, only 70 percent
of the seats are occupied," she added.

Despite the number of passengers increasing, Dinata said, MAS
will not offer any extra flight for the Kuala Lumpur-Surabaya
route.

General manager for Garuda in Surabaya, Iman Sutoro, said he
is also seeing an increase in the number of passengers on the
route.

He said Garuda serves the route with an Airbus-600, which has
18 seats in business class and 207 seats in economy class.

"The Kuala Lumpur-Surabaya tickets for Feb. 6 to Feb. 10 have
almost been sold out," he said.

Malaysia is known as the major destination for Indonesians
seeking employment abroad. This year's Idul Fitri falls on Feb. 9
and Feb. 10. (swe)