Toraja Jamin Passengers Up To 70 Percent, Minister Of Transportation Budi Karya Invites Other Local Governments To Give Stimulus To The Aviation Sector

Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi encouraged local governments (Pemda) to participate in making certain stimulus to the aviation industry to restore flights to the regions.

According to the Minister of Transportation, this initiative needs to be carried out as a joint effort to maintain the sustainability of air connectivity after the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We want all parties to play an active role in supporting air transportation connectivity in the regions, to restore the aviation sector after being affected by the pandemic," he said in a written statement on Tuesday, November 22.

The Minister of Transportation explained that the government had made a number of efforts to provide stimulus, such as the flight calibration fee stimulus for the calibration of flight navigation equipment and airport equipment, the Aircraft Passenger Services Service Stimulus (PJP2U) in 2020.

Then, the application of PNBP rates of IDR 0 to landing services, aircraft placement and storage (PJP4U) at airports managed by the Ministry of Transportation.

"We also encourage the presence of the local government in the form of supporting the air transportation service stimulus in order to ensure the availability of connectivity in the area," he said.

The Minister of Transportation revealed that a number of local governments had made real efforts to provide stimulus, namely in Toraja. The local government guarantees passenger occupancy or block seats of around 60-70 percent of the total seat available.

The provincial government and the district government share to block seats, so that currently there have been two flights from Makassar to Toraja and now have added routes to Balikpapan. Giving this block seat usually lasts the first 3-4 months. We hope that other local governments also do the same thing," he explained.

Mentioned, there are two models of support provided by the local government. First, the non-stimulus model, namely the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum and all stakeholders are committed to traveling by air transportation. Second, the stimulus model (incentives), namely the local government provides subsidies for aircraft operating costs (BOP), and guarantees a certain number of seats that are sold (block seats).

In addition to local government support, the Minister of Transportation also encouraged the role of airport and airline operators to continue to improve flight performance.

"For example, increasing operating hours at a number of airports, so that aircraft movements can be more and from an operational perspective it will be more efficient," he said.

Furthermore, the Minister of Transportation also conveyed that along with the decline and control of the pandemic and the easing of mobility and requirements for foreign and domestic travelers, there are new challenges that must be faced together, including market demand which is starting to increase, but in terms of availability the number of airline fleets has decreased.

Then, the increase in avtur fuel prices, the weakening of the rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar, which resulted in a significant increase in flight operating costs.