Jakarta. The holiday rush is here, and this means many travelers are flocking to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang. While those who choose to travel by road will have to cope with being stuck in traffic for hours.

Soekarno-Hatta Airport on Saturday saw high traffic of travelers. Approximately 132,000 passengers departed from the airport that day. However, it was not as hectic as Friday's rush, which had about 147,000 passengers, according to Jakarta Globe’s sister publication Beritasatu.

Verra, one of the flyers, said that she did not mind the airfare surge. She admitted that she was only able to take some time off work that day, thus departing just a day before Christmas. Verra plans to spend the holidays in her hometown in North Sumatra, near Toba Lake.

“I want to return to my hometown for Christmas,” Verra said at the Terminal 2 of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Saturday.

Toll roads also saw long queues of vehicles today. 

For instance, the Cipali Toll Road in Subang, West Java. The surge in vehicles, coupled with the throngs of cars at the KM 86 rest area, led to severe traffic congestion. In response, officers had to implement the “open-and-close” traffic control system at the rest area. 

According to Sri Mulyo, the head of operations at the ASTRA Cipali Toll, the toll road’s traffic volume rose by 56 percent on Friday versus on a typical day. “As of Friday afternoon, 20,456 vehicles have passed [the Cipali Toll Road] for this holiday season,” Sri Mulyo said.

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Many Indonesians also choose to travel by sea this year. 

According to ferry operator ASDP, at least 14,000 passengers have made it to Java Island via the Bakauheni Seaport in South Lampung in the past week. The seaport saw more than 2,000 passengers a day, much higher than last year’s holidays, which only saw 700 people. 

About 230,000 ferry passengers traveling by cars made it to Java Island over the past seven days. The seaport recorded 4,400 passengers on two-wheeled vehicles during the same period.

“The number of passengers has skyrocketed [during this year-end holiday season] by more than 200 percent. And traffic will likely peak on Saturday night,” ASDP president director Ira Puspadewi said.

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