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Ticket price drop expected before year-end holidays: Deputy Minister
The government has held discussions with airlines on cost structure, but Deputy Transportation Minister Suntana cannot provide the exact fare reduction amount, saying it was still being calculated.
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Preparing for flight: Workers clean a Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737-800 NG airplane at the Garuda Maintenance Facility (GMF) AeroAsia, at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on January 21, 2022. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
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eputy Transportation Minister Suntana has set a target of decreasing airline ticket prices before the year-end holidays of Christmas 2024 and New Year 2025.
The retired three-star police general, however, could not provide the exact reduction amount, but said that the government was calculating it.
“We don’t know. Well, we’re still calculating. What’s clear is, we want to lower it.” Suntana said on Thursday, as quoted by tempo.co.
Suntana also claimed that the government had discussed the matter with airlines. During these discussions, airlines’ operational costs and other variables affecting ticket prices were considered.
“After the calculations from the meeting, it is very likely that ticket prices will drop,” Suntana added.
“Our target is to have ticket prices drop before Christmas 2024 and New Year 2025, as a Christmas and New Year gift.”
In July, the administration under former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo established a task force to resolve the airline ticket price issue. The task force comprised the Office of Coordinating Economic Minister and the then-office of coordinating maritime and investment affairs minister, along with other relevant ministries and institutions.
At that time, Sandiaga Uno, the then-tourism and creative economy minister, said that the task force had been formed to take breakthrough steps in evaluating airline ticket prices, including issues such as fuel costs, spare parts, permits, value added tax and passenger tax.
Sandiaga even aimed for a 10 percent reduction in ticket prices before Jokowi ended his term on Oct. 20.
“If we can implement quick wins, which could take two to three months, and before October, before the end of [the Jokowi] administration, ticket prices could drop,” Sandiaga told the press on July 22.
However, this target was not realized before Jokowi’s term ended.
Sandiaga later set a new target, aiming for a further drop in ticket prices during the first half of 2025. However, he acknowledged that prices may not return to pre-pandemic levels.
“We continue to coordinate every month to implement various measures within the respective ministries’ authorities,” Sandiaga said in a written response to Tempo.co on Sept. 29.
Meanwhile, Garuda Indonesia president director Irfan Setiaputra said that domestic flights in Indonesia were expensive because they were subject to a tax on aviation fuel, while international flights were not.
“We never go beyond the government-set price limits. But taxes are imposed,” Irfan said. “The aviation fuel we buy is also taxed, and the tickets we sell domestically are taxed.”
