ER
TWO national airlines, Garuda Indonesia and Batik Air, have added two aircraft to anticipate a surge in passengers to Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), who will travel during the Idul Fitri 1444 Hijri holiday. Reports received from the airport at this time the number of passengers disembarking at Komodo Airport began to increase.
“So, Batik Air and Garuda Indonesia have added two aircraft to transport passengers,” said Managing Director of the Labuan Bajo Flores Authority (BPLBF) Shana Fatina when contacted from Kupang on Tuesday (04/18).
She said that currently per day each Boeing aircraft is filled with around 1,200 passengers and that number is quite a lot compared to during the Eid al-Fitr holiday when COVID-19 cases are still high. However, he said, at the beginning of the year in January and February until early March the number of passengers per one Boeing aircraft was only 1,000 passengers.
“That number was after the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of the year, but now entering April the number has increased,” he added.
But he continued if compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were around 1,772 airplane seats filled. “At this time it will slowly return to normal again, because it is currently recovering,” he added.
He also believes that during the Eid holiday this time, the number of people arriving in Labuan Bajo through Komodo Labuan Bajo Airport will also increase.
Regarding the number of tourist visits, she added that from April 1 to Monday (04/17), there were 9,212 tourists visiting Labuan Bajo. Shana said that the number was dominated by foreign tourists with a total of 6,928 people and 2,284 domestic tourists. [antaranews/photo special]
