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irAsia is looking to reap Rp 50 billion (US$5.15 million) in its three-day travel fair at Kota Kasablanka shopping mall in South Jakarta, by offering 50 percent off tickets and compensation for every delayed flight booked at the fair.

Indonesia Air Asia (IAA) CEO Dharmadi told reporters on the event’s kick-off on Friday that his company expected to sell around 20,000 discounted tickets for domestic and international flights between March 3 and July 31 to achieve the target.

Discounted flights are given for those who want to fly on weekdays and outside school and national holidays.

“We try to attract passenger by giving promotions during this fair with the help of travel agents, to meet our target of nine million passengers this year,” Dharmadi said. Last year, the low-fare carrier flew nearly 6 million
passengers, double the three million in 2011.

Dharmadi said that travel agents had made a major contribution to the carrier’s income. “About 85 percent of our tickets are purchased online, and most of the purchasing is conducted by travel agents,” he explained.

Besides giving discounts, IAA is also offering Rp 600,000-worth of compensation for every hour of a delayed flight.

To achieve its 9 million-passenger target, IAA will take the delivery of 10 new Airbus A320s throughout the course of the year, which will increase its fleet to 32 aircraft.

“We’re not going to open new routes with the booked planes, we are simply going to increase flight frequency on existing routes,” Dharmadi said.