by Nurul Fitri Ramadhani

JAKARTA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Edna Simolulu Mardasah, who now lives in Indonesia's capital Jakarta, looked a bit relieved after checking out a flight ticket via a travel application.

She will fly to Padang in West Sumatra province on April 2, about a week ahead of celebrating Eid al-Fitr, a holy day for Muslims. What has made her a bit concerned is that she paid almost 5 million rupiah (317 U.S. dollars) for a one-way flight, a price that she said "does not make any sense at all."

"Usually, the ticket to Padang costs only 700,000 to 900,000 rupiah (44 to 57 dollars) for a direct flight. Now I have to transit in Kuala Lumpur because all direct flights are fully booked. But non-direct flights have never been this expensive. This is crazy, but I need to go home anyway. I do not want to celebrate it alone in Jakarta," said Mardasah.

The high ticket prices, however, do not reduce her excitement to meet her family. This is the only family gathering for her in a year. "I do not really mind the prices. There is nothing that can buy a family reunion," she said.

Indonesia has seen a surge in transport costs due to a very high demand for travel tickets ahead of Eid day. In the Muslim-majority country, authorities have predicted that at least 193 million people will travel to their hometowns during the exodus period of the Eid holiday, which will fall from April 8 to 12.

Some 28.43 million people are forecast to leave the Greater Jakarta area alone, facing hours of traffic or congested airports and seaports.

The transport ministry estimated that there could be a 20-30 percent hike in ticket prices for public transport, such as buses and trains. Local media reports said that flight tickets have surged up to 300 percent.

Similar to Mardasah, Ahmad Al Fikri has also bought tickets for the return to his hometown in Jogja despite the price hike. He, along with his wife and two kids, has paid around 500,000 rupiah (32 dollars) per person for a bus ticket. The normal price was some 200,000 rupiah (13 dollars).

"All prices are soaring up during the Eid season. That's unavoidable. But that does not matter as long as we can be together with our family," Fikri said, adding that he had been saving money for buying the tickets since the middle of last year.

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said that the government has been working on some plans to reduce ticket prices. For air transport, for example, he encouraged Indonesian airlines to increase the number of flights operating during the holiday season, as currently there is a lack of airplanes in the country, contributing to the surging ticket prices.

"We still have a shortage of between 300 and 350 aircraft, so we must immediately bring them in. The additional number of flights will increase the availability of seats and that is expected to make the ticket prices more affordable," Uno said recently.

According to the transport ministry, ticket price hikes are now reaching the upper limit, especially for high-passenger routes, such as Padang, Medan in North Sumatra, Surabaya in East Java, and Makassar in South Sulawesi.

"The prices look drastically increasing because we are not in the low season like January. We are now entering the high season which makes the demand rise," ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati said. Enditem

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