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Lion Air ground-handling permit suspended
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A screen capture of the letter from the Transportation Ministry to PT Lion Group regarding the suspension of its ground-handling service permit at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. (JP)
T
he Transportation Ministry has suspended the ground-handling permit of the country's largest low-cost carrier Lion Air at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten, as a result of the airline’s alleged mishandling of its passengers last week.
In an official letter seen by The Jakarta Post, the ministry cited the Aviation Law, Ministerial Decree No. 55/2015 on airports, as well as Ministerial Decree No. 56/2015 on the airport business as the basis of the sanction.
The sanction will be effective as of May 22.
The ministry imposed the sanction following an incident on May 10 when a bus transporting 40 Lion Air passengers from Singapore was misdirected to Terminal 1 for domestic flights instead of the international Terminal 2, hence allowing at least 16 passengers to skip immigration checks.
Four passengers remained unable to be contacted by immigration and customs authorities as of Monday. One of whom is a foreign national from Hungary.
However, when contacted, Lion Air spokesperson Andy Saladin said that the airline had not received the letter.
He declined to comment on the issue, including who would provide ground-handling services for Lion Air passengers at the airport during the suspension.(dmr)
