State-owned air navigation firm AirNav Indonesia said as of May 14 local airlines had requested 1,336 extra flights to meet the sharp increase in passengers during the annual exodus.

The firm’s president director Novie Riyanto said the number would increase in the next few days as not all the airlines had submitted their requests for additional flights. “We are still optimistic that there will be an increase and growth in traffic of around 5 percent if we see that the current request for extra flights has reached 1,336,” said Novie. During the Idul Fitri holiday last year, AirNav served a total of 3,106 extra flights.

Lion Air Group, which consists of Lion Air, Batik Air and Wings Air, will provide 20,150 extra seats for all domestic routes. “Lion Air Group is providing additional flights for popular destinations. There will be 15 percent more flights during Idul Fitri than on normal days, the airline’s spokesperson Danang Mandala Prihantoro said.

Of the total extra seats, 11,718 seats will come from 62 extra flights to be provided by Lion Air and 5,840 extra seats from Batik’s 35 extra flights and a further 2,259 flights provided by Wings Air.

According to the Transportation Ministry’s estimate, about 6.45 million people would travel by trains while 5.78 million passengers would travel by plane. Moreover, 4.68 million would travel by bus, 4.53 million by ferry for short distance sea transportation and 1.08 million people will travel by ship.

According to a study by transportation ticketing and accommodation booking platform Traveloka, it is not only airlines that are seeing an increase in demand, as public bus services and trains are experiencing a similar trend.

Traveloka’s management growth head Iko Putera said in this year’s season, the demand for road transportation had increased significantly. The demand for train tickets made through the ticket booking app rose 30 percent while those for intercity bus tickets rose 300 percent.

The managing director of bus operator Lorena and Karina Transport, Dwi Rianta Soerbakti, said the firm estimated passenger numbers would increase 20 percent compared to the same period last year.

“The growth will stagnate at 20 percent like last year because more people will use their own cars once the Trans Java Toll Road is in full operation. Some people who usually fly will also take their own cars to travel to their native towns,” he said. Dwi also said the flat growth occurred because many homebound travellers also took free bus services provided by a number of state-owned enterprises.

Lorena and Karina Transport, which is known to serve intercity and interprovincial routes, estimates it will serve 100,000 passengers on at least 40 routes mostly on Java during the Idul Fitri exodus. To anticipate the surge in passengers, Lorena and Karina Transport will prepare 300 buses during the annual holiday season.

From May 26 to Jun. 16, state-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) will provide a total of 2,691,212 seats from regular and extra trains.

KAI’s vice president for public relations Edy Kuswoyo said Thursday that 62 percent of seats had been sold. Currently, there are 872,714 regular seats available for medium and long distance trips and there are 253,126 extra seats available. State-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api (KAI) Indonesia plans to operate as many as 50 extra trains during the Idul Fitri holiday season to cope with the surge in train passengers during the annual exodus.

Edy said earlier that the company would operate a total of 406 trains during the annual exodus, comprising 356 regular trains and 50 additional trains. The trains consist of 27 executive and business trains, 11 non-economy class trains and four economy class trains.

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