ER
THE MINISTRY of Transportation continues to strive to stabilize flight ticket prices so as not to cause high inflation.
“Regarding airline tickets, what I want to say is that there are things that we have done, some are in progress, and will be done,” said Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi at a working meeting with Commission V of the Indonesian House of Representatives in Jakarta, Wednesday (8/24) .
Budi explained that the Ministry of Transportation had asked airlines to make efficiency and innovation efforts to manage flight ticket prices more affordable.
However, Minister Budi revealed that in a number of remote areas or those that are usually served using propeller planes, there is a gap related to higher aviation fuel prices, while passenger occupancy is relatively low.
He also said that the Ministry of Transportation made joint efforts between local governments, airlines, and passengers to maximize passenger occupancy at certain times.
Airlines are asked to promote discounts or lower prices due to low demand. On the other hand, people are expected to take advantage of this time to get cheaper tickets.
In line with this, the passenger occupancy rate is considered to be increasing so that cumulatively the airline’s income will increase and provide space so as not to impose an upper limit fare at peak times.
“Occupancy is not optimal on weekdays, especially during the day. Even though if it is promoted with discounts and so on, many people will go there,” he said.
Furthermore, Budi Karya Sumadi gave an example, the local government in Toraja, South Sulawesi, which provides subsidies by doing block seats, where the regional government guarantees the occupancy rate to reach 60 to 70%, as well as participating in marketing tickets to the public and government employees.
Another effort that has been made by the Ministry of Transportation is asking relevant institutions to reduce the Avtur Value Added Tax (VAT) from 11% to 5%.
“This is only temporary, maybe three months later it will come back again. But this depends on the policy of the Ministry of Finance,” he said.
Budi added that the Ministry will soon hold a meeting with all stakeholders to discuss the follow-up to the efforts that have been made. Including, meeting with the banking sector and airlines to find solutions so that ticket price reductions can be achieved immediately. [antaranews/photo special]
