The 32-year-old state enterprise employee said he had been unaware of the new passenger service charge (PSC) imposed at the terminal, which opened early August, as it was a charge that was typically included in the airfare.

The fee charged for domestic passengers at Terminal 3 is more than double that charged at Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.

Jodhi said the services were not worth the fee, also commonly called “airport tax”.

“The terminal is still being built. I had a hard time finding the prayer room, and there were only a few places to eat,” Jodhi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Terminal 3, which sits on 42 hectares of land, is a landmark project by state airport operator Angkasa Pura (AP) II to revamp Jakarta’s 30-year-old Soekarno-Hatta, the country’s busiest airport, and make it a global transit hub on par with the likes of Singapore’s Changi and Seoul’s Incheon.

The new facility is supposed to expand the heavily congested airport’s capacity, with the final stage of operations scheduled for 2017. It is expected to have the capacity to accommodate 25 million passengers after its construction is completed.

However, the Rp 7-trillion project has been a subject of controversy since it opened on Aug. 9.

The terminal’s opening day was marred by glitches, ranging from blackouts to flight delays.

A week later, the terminal’s arrivals section was inundated following heavy rain, allegedly due to a drainage system that was clogged by construction debris.

Passengers were initially not charged to use the facility, but on Oct. 1 the airport operator introduced the new PSC — Rp 130,000 for domestic flights and Rp 200,000 for international flights — as opposed to Rp 40,000 and Rp 150,000, respectively, at the other two terminals.

Another domestic flight passenger, 32-year-old Jenny Jusuf, shared a similar sentiment about the PSC, saying it was “overpriced”. “I’m not sure [it was worth it]. I went there once for a meeting. It was so messy, like the terminal had been forced to operate,” said Jenny, who planned to fly from Jakarta to Denpasar on Wednesday.

The Transportation Ministry earlier announced that a number of airport terminals, including those in Soekarno-Hatta and Husein Sastranegara in Bandung, West Java, would charge a new PSC rate as of Oct. 1.

Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) chairman Tulus Abadi said he opposed the premium PSC for Soekarno-Hatta Terminal 3.

“The increase shouldn’t be applied 100 percent because construction of the terminal is not complete. We can’t expect premium services [in that condition],” he said.

He said the government and AP II could have increased the PSC gradually in line with the ongoing construction.

Angkasa Pura II public relations officer Haerul Anwar defended the company’s move, saying the vast size of the terminal and its advanced baggage handling system justified it. The company stated that it had considered operations, services and facilities at the terminal when setting the fee.

“This spacious building, which is also more comfortable, is equipped with new facilities, hence the new fee for Terminal 3,” he said.

Separately, Garuda Indonesia corporate communications vice president Benny S. Butarbutar said the airline, currently the only domestic flight provider at Terminal 3, was monitoring the impact of the new PSC on its business.

“We will see if we have to adjust fares to adapt to the current [PSC] fee,” he said.

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