Indonesia Gov't Prepares Steps to Manage Annual Homecoming Exodus

As for the return flow, 2.32 million vehicles are predicted to pass through the four main toll gates, up 1.4 percent from 2.29 million during the 2022 Idul Fitri holidays.

To support this year’s homecoming, Jasa Marga and the Toll Road Management Agency (BPJT) will operate 58 rest areas on both toll road sections as places of rest and provide service for travelers.

The Transportation Ministry will also prepare additional ferry ports to divert traffic at Merak Port in Banten and Bakauheni Port in South Lampung. Ciwandan Port in Banten and Panjang Port in Bandar Lampung have been prepared to anticipate congestion at the two ports.

Air Transportation

Regarding air connectivity, traffic density is forecast at several airports, namely in Bali, Makassar, Surabaya, and Medan.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation will also monitor 51 airports to support the 2023 homecoming. The monitoring will cover the aspects of aviation safety, the increased number of passengers, aircraft movements, technical problems, and other factors.

For flight route services, 270 domestic routes have been provided to connect 122 cities for domestic flights and 112 international routes connecting 48 cities overseas from 22 countries.

In terms of fleet readiness, currently, 394 aircraft have been prepared for regular flights. The number will increase this year.

Also read: Transportation Ministry Prepares Flights for Returning Indonesian Migrant Workers

Several anticipatory strategies have also been prepared by the Directorate General of Air Transportation, such as maintaining and increasing compliance with the aspects of aviation safety and security while still paying attention to health protocols, increasing air transport capacity in terms of the supply side, and maintaining demand growth.

To handle the increase in the number of passengers, additional seating capacity will be provided through extra flights or replacing aircraft with larger sizes.

Sea Transportation

The Directorate General of Sea Transportation has also commenced preparations ahead of this year’s annual homecoming by conducting seaworthiness tests for passenger ships at several ports.

The seaworthiness test for passenger ships started from Feb. 8 to March 20, 2023.

The ships' seaworthiness test aims to increase supervision by inspecting the ships' condition and giving certification to those having cleared the test.

This step also aims to address the results of an evaluation of reports from the Office of the Technical Implementation Unit (UPT) of the Directorate General of Sea Transportation.

Source: State News Antara