Many People Follow Recommendations For Early Homecoming, Minister Of Transportation Budi: Airplane Passenger Occupancy Nearly 100 Percent

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya while reviewing preparations for going home at Soekarno-Hatta Airport. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi, appreciates the people who follow the government's recommendation to go home for Eid early, in order to avoid overcrowding during the peak period of going home, which is predicted to occur on April 28-30, 2022.

The Minister of Transportation also carried out inspections at Soekarno Hatta International Airport. During his inspection, Budi found information that the movement of passengers had increased significantly.

"Previously, the movement of passengers at Soekarno Hatta Airport was around 400 passengers per day. But in the past two days it has increased to 900 passengers per day. The occupancy is approaching 100 percent. This means that the recommendation for an early homecoming has been carried out," he said in Jakarta, Sunday, April 24. .

On this occasion, the Minister of Transportation admitted that he had asked a number of passengers the reason for going home early.

"Passengers who deliberately go home early say that, in addition to avoiding overcrowding on peak days, the ticket price is also cheaper," he said.

Budi explained that the safety aspect was important to be prepared. Starting from aircraft airworthiness checks through ramp check activities, as well as flight crew health checks. In addition, the availability of a fleet of aircraft, as well as checking health requirements and monitoring the implementation of health protocols are also major concerns.

Furthermore, Budi believes, with good coordination and communication between related elements, the implementation of this year's homecoming can be carried out well, as has been done when handling flight pilgrims for Umrah some time ago.

"To the officers, do it firmly but remain polite, friendly, and serve in a friendly manner. Let's together create a safe and healthy homecoming," he said.

On the same occasion, the Director General of Civil Aviation Novie Riyanto said that the movement of aircraft passengers continued to increase ahead of Lebaran.

"In 2019 there could be around 1,200 passengers per day, now there are 900 passengers. It is predicted that before Lebaran it can reach 1,200 to 1,300 passengers per day," he said.

With the increasing number of passengers, said Novie, a number of airlines have made requests to hold extra flights. In addition, to anticipate the surge in passengers, airport operations have been optimized from the previous 12 hours to 18 to 24 hours.

In this year's homecoming, it is predicted that as many as 8.9 million people will go home by plane or about 10 percent of the total homecomers which are predicted to reach 85.5 million people.