Expensive Domestic Plane Ticket Prices Contrary to the Proud Travel Movement in Indonesia

JAKARTA – Many people complain about the high price of domestic flight tickets in Indonesia. Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that plane ticket prices in Indonesia are the second most expensive in the world.

In his personal Instagram account, Luhut explained that the price of plane tickets in Indonesia is only inferior to Brazil. Meanwhile in ASEAN, Indonesia is the country with the most expensive plane tickets on average.

"Compared to ASEAN countries and countries with high populations, Indonesia's flight ticket prices are the second most expensive after Brazil," said Luhut.

According to Luhut, airplane ticket prices in Indonesia are very expensive due to the surge in flight activity after the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Many people have complained about high flight ticket prices recently, the reason is because global aviation activity has recovered 90 percent compared to the situation before the pandemic," said Luhut.

Data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows that there will be 4.7 billion global passengers in 2024. This figure is 200 million more than in 2019.

Unbelievably Unfriendly

Complaints about the high price of domestic flight tickets in Indonesia have been voiced by the public in recent years, especially during holiday periods.

As the 2024 Vesak long holiday approaches, for example, netizens voiced their anxiety on social media regarding various findings on plane ticket prices for domestic routes. They called the prices “unbelievably unfriendly”.

One of the X users, previously Twitter, shared his experience regarding domestic tickets being more expensive compared to tickets abroad.

He found that a plane ticket for the Pekanbaru-Medan route cost IDR 1.5 million, much more expensive than a flight to Kuala Lumpur which only cost IDR 200 thousand.

However, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan's claim that plane ticket prices in Indonesia were the second most expensive after Brazil was denied by aviation observer Gerry Soejatman.

He actually revealed the opposite fact, that Indonesian plane ticket prices are easier than other countries.

"Based on the limited random sample, plane ticket prices in Indonesia are cheaper than other countries," said Gerry, citing Kompas.

Gerry compared the prices of domestic airline tickets in Indonesia with domestic tickets in other countries such as Brazil, the United States (US), Italy and Argentina.

For example, for a flight from Jakarta to Denpasar, Bali, with a travel time of around 1 hour 50 minutes, the ticket price is IDR 1.05. Meanwhile, domestic flights in Brazil from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo with a shorter flight time, namely 1 hour 5 minutes, the ticket price is IDR 3.38 million.

"Brazil is expensive, really more expensive," he said.

All prices mentioned are ticket prices sold by one of the online travel agents (OTA) for departures on Thursday, July 25, 2024.

Even the price of plane tickets abroad does not include the minimum baggage price of IDR 300 thousand. As is known, airline ticket prices in Indonesia generally include 10-20 kg of baggage.

"So what is the basis for saying that Indonesia's second most expensive (airline ticket) prices are based on that?" he said.

Effect on Tourism Destination

Expensive plane ticket prices have an impact on the domestic tourism sector, such as Bali, which is one of the favorite destinations for both domestic and foreign tourists.

The phenomenon of expensive plane ticket prices encourages travelers to choose to use private vehicles on the grounds that they can reduce expenses. But on the other hand, this causes traffic jams in the destination area.

Apart from that, because it uses private vehicles, it shortens the stay of travelers, thus having an impact on spending in tourist destination areas.

"Because plane ticket prices are high, tourists from outside Bali use private cars to go to Bali and this causes traffic jams," said Chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Karangasem, I Wayan Kariasa.

"The visit of tourists who previously wanted to go on holiday for three to four nights was cut short by car travel, so their stay time was also reduced," added Kariasa.

The government's efforts to intensively promote domestic tourism with the Proud to Travel in Indonesia Movement seem contradictory following the exorbitant plane ticket prices.

As is known, recently Sandiaga Uno launched the national movement (gernas) Proudly Made in Indonesia (BBI) and Proud to Travel in Indonesia (BBWI). This collaboration is expected to increase domestic tourist visits to destinations in Indonesia.

Kariasa feels that this slogan is in vain because people tend to travel abroad considering the cheaper ticket prices.

"The slogans that continue to be conveyed inviting us to vacation in Indonesia will be in vain, if domestic plane tickets are high, because they prefer to vacation abroad," reminded Kariasa.

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Uno confirmed that the government had formed a task force or task force for reducing plane ticket prices. This was done as an effort to create more efficient airline ticket prices in Indonesia.

Kariasa appreciated the government's steps to form a task force to reduce flight ticket prices. He hopes that the program will not be temporary because the community needs a long-term solution because this is related to the community's economy.

"In my opinion, it's good, but the problem is, things like this have been formed for a long time and always happen. "In fact, what is needed is control over its sustainability so that it will not harm each other," he concluded.