8 Thousand Homecomers Leave Banda Aceh Ahead Of Eid

A number of interprovincial intercity buses (AKAP) carrying homecomers wait for their scheduled departure at Terminal type A Batoh, Banda Aceh, Aceh, Saturday (23/4/2022). (ANTARA PHOTO / Irwansyah Putra/rwa)

BANDA ACEH - As many as 8,000 homecomers have departed from Terminal Type A Batoh, Banda Aceh City to various areas both inside and outside Aceh during the Eid al-Fitr 1443 Hijri homecoming transportation period.

"From April 21 until now, we have dispatched 8,000 passengers," said Head of Banda Aceh's Batoh Terminal, Heriyanto in Banda Aceh, as reported by Antara, Thursday, April 28.

He explained that on normal days his party dispatches about 300-400 passengers per day. And the increase in passengers began to occur on (22/4), which reached 900 people per day.

Since then, passengers from Banda Aceh to various regions in Aceh and outside Aceh have continued to increase, an average of 1,000-1,200 people per day, with the number of fleets dispatched as many as 30 units.

"Since April 22, passengers have continued to increase, up to 1,000 people per day, even last night we sent 1,200 homecomers," he said.

When compared to conditions before COVID-19, said Heriyanto, the number of passengers has shown a marked decline.

Before the pandemic, during the Eid homecoming momentum, his party dispatched 45-50 transport units, with fully loaded passengers. Meanwhile, currently the highest is only 30 vehicles per day.

"Since COVID-19, the highest we departed last night was 30 vehicles. Especially during the COVID-19 period, in one day there are only 10-15 units," he said.

Heriyanto estimates that the surge in passengers from Banda Aceh will continue to increase until D-1 Eid. Usually, the situation is a few days before Eid al-Fitr, the homecomers come from outside Aceh, both North Sumatra and others.

Therefore, in addition to preparing 30 units of vehicles, his party also prepared 3-5 units, as a reserve fleet in order to avoid the accumulation of homecomers at the terminal.

“Expectations jump again on April 29-30, possibly a slight increase from the usual day. The years before COVID-19 were also like that, it could reach 1,500-1,600 people who departed," said Heriyanto.