NGURAH RAI AIRPORT ADDS 81 EXTRA FLIGHTS DURING LEBARAN

Kuta, Bali province, Sept 6 (ANTARA) - Ngurah Rai international airport adds 81 extra flights during this year's home coming season, the airport's operation manager, Alex Pudjianto, said here on Monday.

In order to optimize flight services before, during, and after Idul Fitri 2010, said Pudjianto, the management of Ngurah Rai International Airport was operating a command post to serve home-bound travelers.

"We have set up one command post at the domestic terminal," he said adding that though the domestic terminal at the airport was being renovated, the quality of services and procedures for all passengers remained the same.

The flow of post-fasting Idul Fitri or Lebaran holiday travelers started last Saturday (September 4) as millions of big city residents head to their home towns ot villages for annual family reunions during the holidays.

Bali`s Gilimanuk ferry port has put 24 of its 28 ferries into service to transport post-fasting month travelers whose number began to rise on Saturday, Operations manager of inland waterway firm PT ASDP for Gilimanuk, Ospar Silaban, said.

Silaban said that although there was an increase in the number of vehicles, it did not create a long queue. "There is no queue at present," he said.

He said the increase also happened with private cars. He said that based on experience in previous years, Gilimanuk port would see the peak of activities one or two days before the Idul Fitri D-Day on Friday.

Ospar called on travelers to conduct their Idul Fitri trips before the peak days in an effort to avoid traffic jams and long queues.

During the Idul Fitri holiday season last year, the number of home-bound travelers reached about 27.25 million, of which 16.2 million used various public transportation modes while the remaining 11.2 million used private cars and motorcycles.