KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and its low-cost subsidiary Citilink Indonesia have prepared 132,000 extra seats to accommodate an expected passenger increase during the Christmas and New Year holiday.

The extra seats are available for both domestic and international flights from Dec. 20 to Jan. 6.

Garuda Indonesia president director Ari Ashkara said on Tuesday that the extra seats consisted of 55,000 seats in 197 Garuda Indonesia flights and 77,000 in 216 Citilink flights.

“The increase will be for [popular] routes serving large numbers of passengers, such as Ambon-Langgur [in Makuku], Jakarta-Denpasar [Bali], Jakarta-Surabaya [East Java], Jakarta-Medan [North Sumatra], Jakarta-Yogyakarta and Denpasar-Surabaya,” Ari said on Tuesday.

He added that Garuda would operate large planes such as the Boeing 737-800 NG for 6,000 seats or in 27 flights serving lucrative routes like Jakarta-Singapore, Jakarta-Denpasar and Jakarta-Surabaya.

Meanwhile, Citilink’s extra flight will be available for 11 route: Surabaya-Denpasar, Jakarta (Halim Perdanakusuma)-Toba Lake in North Sumatra, Jakarta (Halim Perdanakusuma)-Semarang in Central Java, Jakarta (Soekarno-Hatta)-Yogyakarta, Jakarta (Soekarno-Hatta)-Semarang, Jakarta (Soekarno-Hatta)-Denpasar and Jakarta (Soekarno Hatta)-Kualanamu in North Sumatra.

“We will keep monitoring market demand during the year-end peak season to see whether we need to make further adjustments,” Ari said.

To avoid long lines at check-in counters, Ari encouraged passengers to check in online or conduct city check-ins through sales offices as early as possible.

Editor: Wahyu T.Rahmawati