Nurni Sulaiman and Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Balikpapan, Bandung | Sat, 01/24/2009 10:35 AM
A predicted mass exodus of vacationers began to materialize in some big cities in the country Friday, three days before Chinese New Year next Monday.
A slight surge in traffic was reported at Sepinggan Airport in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, and at the railway station and Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung, West Java.
However, traffic levels remained normal at airports in Medan, North Sumatra, and Semarang, Central Java. Abdullah Husin, a spokesman for state airport company Angkasa Pura I, which operates Seping gan airport, said that the slight surge in the number of passengers was largely due to an increase in tra velers to Surabaya, Jakarta and Yogyakarta.
"On normal days, the average number of passengers departing and arriving at the airport is 10,000 people, but on Friday that rose to 12,000," Abdullah said.
The volume of travelers was still far less than that during the Idul Fitri and Christmas holidays, he said, adding that no additional flights had been prepared to meet the increased activity.
The Bandung office of state railway company PT Kereta Api added 10 executive coaches to its trains on the day to cope with an increase in passenger numbers.
Bambang Setyo Prayitno, a spokesman for the company, said the number of executive passengers to and from Bandung was up 20 percent from the average of 2,200 passengers per day.
The greatest increase on the day was in the number of passengers to Semarang, Yogyakarta, Solo and Surabaya.
Husein Sastranegara airport reported that it was running at full capacity, compared to 60 to 70 percent of capacity on normal days.
In Semarang, passenger numbers were also normal at the Tawang railway station and Ahmah Yani Airport.
Rizal Harahap and Suherdjoko contributed to this article from Medan and Semarang.
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