Jakarta. The Transport Ministry is telling airlines, particularly those who serve domestic routes, to make their economy-class tickets cheaper as the Eid holiday exodus is approaching.

In about two weeks, hundreds of millions of Indonesians are expected to travel back to their hometowns to celebrate Eid. Many will travel by car, while others choose to fly. According to the government, the people’s purchasing power has yet to fully recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We expect an increase in air transport demand as we enter the Eid holidays. So we urge airlines to pay attention to the implementation of economy class tariffs that are affordable for the people,” Air Transport director-general M Kristi Endah Murni was quoted as saying in a press statement on Friday.

“Airlines can set affordable economy class tariffs by preparing promos while also paying attention to the existing regulations,” Kristi said.

Kristi said she hoped this could help the aviation industry recover, while also making it easier to go back to their hometowns by airplane.

The Eid homecoming traffic is forecast to peak on April 19-21. Return trips are expected to peak on April 24-25. 

A Transport Ministry survey predicts that 123.8 million people will travel during the Eid holiday. This marks a 14.2 percent increase from last year’s Eid exodus which saw 85.5 million travelers.

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