Private airline company PT LionAir is seeking the government’s permission to add extra flights to cope with the surge in passengers a week before and after the Idul Fitri holiday which falls on Sept. 10.Edward Sirait, Lion’s director of general affairs, said the additional flights were needed to meet the increase in passengers traveling on the company’s most preferred routes such as Jakarta-Padang, Jakarta-Batam, Jakarta-Yogyakarta, Jakarta-Solo, Surabaya-Bandar Lampung, Surabaya-Banjarmasin, Surabaya-Denpasar, and Surabaya-Makassar.We requested the extra flights to meet demand on these routes, Edward said, adding that Lion had already sold out for 90 percent of seats for those routes. According Edward, Lion would use Boeing 737-900 Next Generation aircraft to for the extra flights. — JP